Another change in arrival time for some Wisconsin Guard Soldiers

January 14, 2010 - A flight scheduled to arrive Friday (Jan.15) has been delayed and will now arrive in Wisconsin Saturday with Soldiers mostly from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, Green Bay; Company B (Support Maintenance), 257th Brigade Support Battalion, Kenosha; and some members of Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry, Madison and Troop C, Reedsburg.

The entire brigade is returning to Wisconsin in stages throughout January. All are scheduled to return to Volk Field where they will be met by senior National Guard officials, a military band and family members - homecomings are not open to the general public. Following an initial reunion with their families and a brief official "welcome home" ceremony, Soldiers will travel to nearby Fort McCoy to begin about five days of demobilization processing before being released from active duty.

During training and while in Iraq, the brigade was organized into 27 company-sized units. Rather than operating as a brigade, the 32nd was tasked with a variety of missions throughout Iraq. These missions included forward operating base administration, base defense, area security, quick reaction forces, freedom of movement security support, detainee guard force operations at theater internment facilities, closing the largest internment facility in Iraq, transferring detainees, operating an academy to train Iraqi corrections officers, inspecting detention facilities, securing and administering the International Zone in Baghdad, and turning over U.S.-controlled properties to the government of Iraq. The brigade's Soldiers operated around the clock, most of them working at least 12 hours a day - day after day, week after week, for eight full months in Iraq.

Having accomplished their mission, each company began transferring responsibilities to units from the Texas National Guard's 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team at the end of December and will continue to do so as they prepare to return to Wisconsin in January. ( (For a detailed account of the 32nd Brigade's deployment see: http://dma.wi.gov/deployment )

Returning Soldiers deployed with the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team Thursday and early Friday may come from units in the following Wisconsin communities:

2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry
Company B, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry - Green Bay
257th Brigade Support Battalion
Company B (Support Maintenance), 257th Brigade Support Battalion - Kenosha
1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry (Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Target Acquisition)
Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry - Madison
Troop C, 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry - Reedsburg