Another Wave Of Soldiers Return Home

A reunion between returning soldiers and their families was held an hour early Saturday night.

An estimated 200 1BCT Soldiers returned during Saturday night’s ceremony. A second wave of approximately 150 Soldiers will be welcomed home Tuesday at 1:15 a.m.

During its deployment, the Raider brigade was focused on eliminating Afghan insurgency strongholds traditionally held in southern Afghanistan.

Soldiers from 1BCT forged a close partnership with Afghan National Police and Security Forces and worked to prepare them to assume leadership roles. While the ANSF took the lead in insurgency clearance operations, 1BCT provided enabling support through additional combat troops, close air support, mine clearance and medical capabilities.

The strengthened Afghan National Security Forces fostered greater trust and interaction with Afghan civilians, resulting in an increased network of informants and a greater number of telephonic tips which led U.S. and Afghan forces to most of the weapons caches and explosive devices they disabled.