The third group of soldiers from the Kansas National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery and 35th Military Police Company will be welcomed home from their year-long deployment to the Horn of Africa on Saturday in Topeka. The group involves soldiers from the Manhattan/Wamego area.
The ceremony will begin at 12 p.m. at Forbes Field Hangar 662, 190th Air Refueling Wing, Kansas National Guard. Everyone attending the ceremony should enter Forbes through Gate B. The gate opens at 10 a.m. The first group was welcomed home on Feb. 9 and the second group on Feb. 20.
The ceremony will honor approximately 180 soldiers who spent the last year conducting stability operations in Africa to strengthen partner nation and regional security capacity for long-term regional stability, and to prevent conflict and protect U.S. and Coalition interests. The unit deployed March 2nd of 2011, the second of two teams that have been sent by the Kansas National Guard to the Horn of Africa.
