MonticelloLive

Approximately 123 troops from Company D, 39th Brigade Support Battalion (Monticello’s National Guard Unit) are scheduled to return from military service in Iraq, to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, according to a press release from the Arkansas National Guard State Public Affairs Office.

Reports indicate that they should arrive at Camp Shelby around 7 p.m., and be welcomed with a ceremony around 9 p.m.

In total, over 3,300 Soldiers are returning with the 39th Brigade after serving nine months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

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The story below posted on November 26, 2008.

First wave of 39th Brigade to return

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 26 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.

They will be arriving at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center near Hattiesburg, Miss.

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.