Homecoming
Approximately 160 Soldiers with the El Dorado and Crossett
based Troop A, 151st Cavalry Regiment, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of
the Arkansas Army National Guard are scheduled to return from Iraq as the first wave of the
brigade’s 3200 Soldiers coming home at the end of the brigade’s second deployment in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom
The arrival ceremony has now shifted from Tuesday to Wednesday
night 6 November. The return times of each incoming flight of Soldiers will
remain fluid until the flight actually departs Kuwait approximately 24 hours
prior to the ceremony. The Arkansas National Guard has established a Family
Support Hotline which will provide a recorded voice announcing the current
schedule for the incoming flight. Families can call the hotline at (501)
212-8000. They will need to know the specific unit their Soldier is
returning with. The recording will only be updated twice daily, in the
morning and the afternoon, due to multiple potential timeline shifts.
On April 6, 2007, the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, initially
received its alert order to prepare for its second mobilization in support
of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The brigade was initially called to active duty
for training in Arkansas on October 1, 2007, and was federally mobilized on
January 2, 2008, when it departed the state for continued training at Camp
Shelby, Miss. Approximately 3,000 Soldiers with the brigade deployed to the
Iraqi theatre of operations in late March.
The 39th is comprised of 46 organic units from 42
communities across the state of Arkansas. An additional 11 units from
across the state were called up to augment the brigade’s mobilization. Following
this first return of troops, the remainder of the brigade is currently
scheduled to return in several waves throughout the month of December.
