Some 350 Iowa National Guard members have gotten the word they’ll be taken off federal active duty soon. Iowa Guard spokesman Colonel Robert King says the First Battalion 194th field artillery unit was called to duty in September of last year as part of homeland security efforts. He says they were mobilized at Fort Knox, Kentucky before providing security at military installations in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. King says they should be home before the end of the month. He says they’re in the process of handing off their duties to another unit and then will be processed out return home to return Fort Dodge, Storm Lake, Spencer, Algona and Estherville on July 26th. King says there’ll be ceremonies in each city to welcome them home. King says today, there are 27-hundred soldiers from the Iowa Guard on active duty status, so when the 350 troops come home, that’ll drop to 23-hundred-and-50. King says the soldiers will return to their families and homes after the return ceremonies on the 26th.
