Iowa Guard Members return home

A ceremony today in Boone welcomes back Company “D” of the 109th Aviation wing of the Iowa National Guard, called up last year after the attacks of September eleventh. National Guard spokesman Colonel Robert King will be there. King says this unit’s 170 soldiers strong, based in Boone with a detachment from Lincoln, Nebraska, on federal active duty to repair helicopters of the army’s 160th Special Aviation Regiment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. They’ve done outstanding work, he says, and put their lives and jobs on hold to fulfill the oath they took when they joined the Iowa National Guard. Colonel King says some units mobilized even earlier than Company D have finished their service and come back home already.He says the Port Security company of the Army Reserve from Pocahontas has been released from active duty, though some members did go back to serve more time, and the 133rd Test Squadron of the Air national Guard from Fort Dodge has finished their year and been released. Security Force Squadrons from Des Moines and Sioux City Air Guard bases finished their year, he says and then were extended for another year so it’ll be a while before a homecoming ceremony can be held for them. Today’s welcome-home event is being held at the Iowa National Guard Aviation Support Facility, next to the city airport in Boone.