Alabama Guard unit returning from Iraq

Printed in this weekend’s The Birmingham News:

An Alabama Army Guard unit that deployed to Iraq last December is due back in Alabama this weekend.

About 190 soldiers with the 158th Maintenance Company were scheduled to arrive Tuesday in Camp Atterbury, Ind., said Alabama National Guard spokesman Norman Arnold.

The 158th, out of Tallassee and Tuskegee, was based in northern Iraq and was charged with maintenance and repair of vehicles in convoys that were supporting military operations in the area. Arnold said the unit should be back in Alabama this weekend.

About 15 Guard soldiers with the 115th Signal Battalion from Decatur returned home a few weeks ago from a mission in Iraq.

At present, the Alabama Guard has around 1,600 soldiers and airmen in and around Iraq and Afghanistan.