Homecoming ceremonies set Thursday for National Guard in Mount Pleasant, Keokuk

Community homecoming ceremonies for the 832nd Engineer Company unit headquartered in Mount Pleasant, with a detachment in Keokuk, will be held Thursday in Mount Pleasant and Keokuk.

Local officials and Iowa National Guard leadership will participate and the public is welcome.

The homecoming ceremony for about 50 832nd Engineer Company soldiers starts at 1 p.m. at Mount Pleasant High School

The ceremony for about 45 Keokuk-Detachment 1, 832nd Engineer Company soldiers starts at 2 p.m. at Keokuk High School. These units are part of the approximately 2,900 members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. These Iowa soldiers reported to their mobilization station at Camp Shelby, Miss., in August for additional training and preparation before departing for the Afghanistan theater of operations.

The units arrived in Afghanistan in November, where the soldiers provided full-spectrum operations in a combat theater, including lethal and non-lethal capabilities, support to Afghan National Army and Police units, and assistance to humanitarian relief initiatives.