Members of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will return home from their yearlong tour in Afghanistan at the end of this month.
“This is the information which we’ve been anticipating since the Brigade’s departure last February,” said Maj. Gen. Terry Nesbitt, Georgia’s Adjutant General.
During the last week of February, about 600 soldiers will arrive in Savannah, Ga. It is anticipated that the first group of approximately 175 will arrive on or about Feb. 23.
Each group of soldiers will arrive at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga.. All soldiers will be transported to Cottrell Field at Fort Stewart, Ga., for a brief welcoming formation before being released to their families.
Families of the soldiers are invited to attend homecoming ceremonies for them planned for Cottrell Field at Fort Stewart.
The mission of the brigade while in Afghanistan was to train Afghan security forces and Afghan police.
The unit patrolled areas near Kabul, Afghanistan, and on multiple occasions soldiers were attacked with roadside bombs.
On May 17, Sgt. 1st Class Boyles, Spc. Andrew Sullens and Spc. Anthony Landowski, who’s from Ringgold, Ga., were riding in a combat patrol in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device blew the doors off their vehicle and sent the three men back home for surgeries and recuperation. They are members of the Dalton, Ga.-based C Troop 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry.