The last large group of Iowa National Guard soldiers who were part of a deployment of some 1,800 to the Middle East will soon be home.
Adjutant General Stephen Osborn is the leader of the Iowa Guard. “The last 200 of those arrived in Texas yesterday. They’ll be back in Iowa here in another seven to 10 days, and we look forward to that,” he says. Welcome home ceremonies are being planned and will be announced soon. Major General Osborn says while most of the members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division will be back home, there will still be soldiers on active duty.
“We’ve still got a handful of Army soldiers deployed in the Middle East. We’ve got roughly 200 airmen deployed to the Middle East. And we’ve got probably close to 200 mobilized at home station across Iowa supporting the war effort. So it just never ends. I mean, we are a valuable piece of America’s defense,” he says. General Osborn says they will send 80 soldiers to Eastern Europe in July in support of the efforts against the Russian aggression.
The Iowa National Guard is inviting everyone to their summer series of events. (ING graphic)
The Iowa National Guard is kickiing off its summer series of concerts and events today with an event at Camp Dodge in Johnston. General Osborn says they encourage the public to come out.
“Camp Dodge is a beautiful place, and it is open to Iowans. We’ve got the Gold Star Museum here that are open to Iowans every day,” he says. “We invite our community on to Camp Dodge every day. All you need is an ID to get on Camp Dodge, visit the museum, come to the special events that we have.”
He says today’s event is a kickoff of the America 250 events with a few speeches, recognition of some service members, the 34th Army Scrap Metal Band will playing music, and then a local band will play. The event is from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Camp Dodge.