The long awaited for day is almost here when family and friends will greet their soldiers after a year of deployment away from Idaho. The Idaho Army National Guard’s 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team are packing up their duffle bags and heading for Kuwait where after two days there they fly home on chartered flights in groups of 200-300 to the States. They will arrive at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington (also known as JBLM, near Tacoma) where they will be debriefed and given physicals all of which is part of a process called out processing. Then following a week or more of shuffling papers they will be flown to their homes in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana in small groups. About 1,500 of the Guard members were deployed from Idaho, the rest are form Oregon and Montana, totaling 2,700 members of the largest deployment in Idaho history. The first wave of 300 arrived in the states on Sunday August 28th and the rest are soon to follow.
Their families are eagerly waiting the news as to when their final flights home will arrive and are making preparations for a warm homecoming. Children who have wiped their eyes as they knelt in prayer for their fathers (for what seemed to be a very long year) are happily coloring welcome home Daddy signs. Wives are making last minute preparations and looking in the mirror wondering if the year has made them more or less attractive. Questions of whether their best friend will be the same as they remembered them being linger in the back of their minds. Parents and siblings and friends are all just as eagerly waiting for the day of their arrival.
Not everything will be a bed of roses when the 116th returns. Most will be able to return to former jobs and will settle back into the normal routine of being the head of their households and the main bread winner. It is however estimated that one third of the returning troops will be coming home to lost employment opportunities and jobs that no longer exist. In other words a possible third of our soldiers who have given a year of their life to serving their country will be without work. That is where we can help, as their communities, they will need us to reach out to them with job offerings. There is a tax credit that employers can qualify for when they hire a returning soldier. Find out about the ‘Hire One Vet’ program which Idaho employers participate in by contacting Col. Tim Marsano of the National Guard at (208) 422-5268.
I along with my family will be at the airport waving American flags and carrying welcome home signs. It is indeed a happy moment when your soldier returns home. Some families and groups are preparing for a momentous welcome.
The Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association is hosting a Welcome Home Bash for the 116th on Saturday the 24th of September from 3 pm to 9 pm at the Meridian Speedway. It is open to the public. The returning soldiers are admitted free to the pre-event motorcycle ride, the show and shine with local car clubs, and live entertainment plus much, much more. It will be a happy event. For more information on the return of our soldiers you can contact your local National Guard office or go to:
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