FORT HOOD, Texas - The last of the 1st Cavalry Division headquarters' Soldiers to arrive back home from their Iraq deployment touched down on Robert Gray Army Airfield hours before any thought of the fog ruining their homecoming ceremony Jan. 14, at Fort Hood.
"To see our families and come back ... officially, a weather man will say that today's an overcast day, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a bright a day as we could ever have," said Maj. Gen. Daniel Bolger, the 1st Cav. Div.'s commanding general. "It's a very exciting day for me and for all the troopers in the division headquarters."
The nearly 300 Soldiers completed a 12-month deployment which started last January when they took over what was the Multinational Division-Baghdad, in Iraq. During their year, the division oversaw the Iraqi military and police forces take over the security throughout the country. Bolger said by the end of their time in Iraq, the division's Soldiers were serving in more of an over watch capacity.
The division's 1st Brigade Combat Team will start their return home Jan. 17 and continue through the rest of the month, leaving only the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade left in Iraq.
"I can't wait until the 1st Air Cavalry to get back so the whole family can be back at home," said Deborah Malloy, the division command sergeant major's wife.
As all the division headquarters Soldiers are back now, they will start their re-integration training back to Fort Hood, a series of personnel administration and medical stations before the bulk of them go on a end-of-tour vacation.
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