Soldiers of Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 449th Theater Aviation Brigade (TAB), North Carolina Army National Guard are scheduled return to N.C. from Iraq, arriving at Pope Air Force Base, today between 5 and 6 p.m.

About 120 soldiers are scheduled to arrive at the base's Green Ramp, to greet their families after a year-long deployment. Representatives of the United Service Organizations and the N.C. National Guard leadership will welcome the Soldiers home there.

Headquartered in Morrisville, these North Carolina Guardsmen deployed in support of the 10th Mountain Division to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in September, 2008.

They conducted command and control operations of Active and Guard aviation units in the central part of Iraq.

The Brigade adds this most recent mission to prior deployments of its Soldiers and subordinate units for every major contingency operation since its inception including Desert Shield/Desert Storm, the Balkan Conflict, Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Soldiers of the 449th are trained to coordinate and direct reconnaissance and security, air assault and air movement, attack and combat service support missions.

The North Carolina National Guard remains committed to providing ready forces to deploy at a in support of the global war on terror or state emergencies as needed. Currently the NC National Guard has about 4300 Soldiers and Airmen deployed around the world out of a total of almost 11,800 NC National Guardsmen assigned.

An official welcome home ceremony for the 449th that is open to the public is scheduled for Sept. 20 , and will be held at the N.C. National Guard Armory in Morrisville.