Eugene (KMTR) - More than 2,300 Oregon soldiers in Iraq are counting the days until they are back home.
When the Oregon National Guard’s 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team was called up to serve overseas, it was the largest deployment of Oregon soldiers since World War II. But there's still a lot of work to do, before those soldiers can come home.
Colonel Dan Hokanson, the commander of the 41st IBCT, says they've been on foreign soil for almost a year. And since the team touched down in Iraq, the troops have been working on a long ‘to-do’ list.
"We've escorted close to about 6,000 convoys across western central and southern Iraq, which adds up to about 7 million miles on the road for our soldiers driving our convoy escort vehicles,” Hokanson said.
Last month, Brigadier General Paul Wentz, commander of the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), visited the soldiers to congratulate them for a job well done, and to look over some new improvements to the escort vehicles.
"I’ve been nothing but impressed with the organization,” said Wentz. “They came in well-prepared, trained and excited about the mission and have done a fantastic job. I hate to see them leave."
The 41st will continue to provide security escorts and guard military bases at key locations around Iraq.
“Also, we're in the process of starting to train up our replacements, not only in Kuwait but here in Iraq, as well,” Col. Hokanson said.
And of course, the preparations for going home still need to be done, such as getting their equipment prepared, packaged, and then shipped out.
Many of the soldiers have been gone from home for a year or longer, and Hokanson says the prospect of seeing their families again is what’s sustaining them until they can leave in May.
“So they are very excited to get back home and back into their communities back to Oregon and Washington and see their family, friends, and get back to the lives they had before they came here,” he said.
But the anticipation of that return to civilian life also comes with concerns. “Obviously, some of our soldiers are concerned with the economic situation. Some soldiers will be looking for employment when we get back, so we're putting our efforts in that and helping those soldiers looking for work.”
Calling it among the top concerns the Oregon troops have, Col. Hokansen says the National Guard is working ahead of time to provide returning soldiers with the resources they may need.
The first demobilization stop for the 41st Brigade will be the former Fort Lewis, Washington, which is now known as Joint Base Lewis-McChord. There, soldiers will get medical, dental, legal and financial checkups to make sure any issues that came up during deployment are documented.
So far, a specific date for the Guard members’ return to their hometowns in Oregon has not been released.
