A year ago this week the 151st returned to the Linton Natural Guard Armory

It was an emotional parade of more than three dozen fire trucks, ambulances and police vehicles that accompanied the two buses carrying the hometown heroes back from their nine-month combat mission in Iraq.

The unit was called to active duty in early December 2007 and left for mobilization training at Fort Stewart, Ga., on Jan. 2, 2008 after an impressive send-off ceremony in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

In January, the troops were welcomed back to Indiana by Gov. Mitch Daniels in a Lucas Oil Stadium ceremony that featured Linton Mayor Tom Jones as one of the featured speakers.

Alpha Company -- numbering about 130 -- is a part of the 3,400 soldiers of the 76th Brigade and was part of the largest active duty combat mobilization of the Indiana National Guard since World War II.

The unit previously was deployed for 13 months in 2003.

On Dec. 2, 2008, the Guardsmen were greeted in Linton by an impressive patriotic display -- highlighted by a giant American flag salute with a massive-sized flag draped between the aerial trucks from the Jasonville and Bloomfield fire departments along State Road 54 -- directly across the road from the armory.

Several hundred family members, friends and community residents lined the driveway of the armory -- proudly waving miniature American flags, holding up welcome home and greeting signs and snapping photographs.

In the last 12 months, the Guardsmen have had a chance to get re-acquainted with their families and friends while most have returned to their regular civilian jobs.

Alpha Company Commander Capt. Andrew Wood said the year since the company returned has gone by quickly and he added, "Once we got home we wanted to make sure the soldiers got back to their jobs and got them back in college and adjusted back to being back home. I think we've done a great job of that really."

Wood, who works fulltime for the National Guard as the Admin. Officer for the 1-151 Combat Team, said he's had time to reflect back on the job his company did back in Iraq and is pleased with their mission.

"Knowing what a critical role our unit played in making Iraq secure and safe and letting the Iraqis take control of their own destiny, I'm certainly very proud of the role we played in that because we were able to see the benefit of the secure situation now," he said.

Wood said the unit was lauded by military leadership for the job it played during the deployment and as a result was been given new mission orders in October on the homefront. The unit is currently in the training phase as a reaction force unit, according to Wood.

While details about the mission can't be released, Wood said it is a domestic mission focused on the local, state and national level within the U.S. borders.

"We're going to learn a lot from this mission and we're proud to do it," the commander noted.

Wood, a 17-year National Guard veteran who was promoted to his current rank in April, also lauded the continuing support of the entire Greene, Sullivan and Knox county communities.

"There is no doubt in my military mind that all the communities in our surrounding area that we have the best family support unit and the best support. I don't think anyone will forget the welcome that we had when we came home that night (on Dec. 2, 2008). The cards, the letters, the care packages that we got were outstanding. I stand before you and submit it to you that absolutely that there is no better support in the state than what we got," Wood stressed.

"Things are going just extremely well for our unit. One important thing that has helped our reintegration is that several soldiers joined our unit while we were gone. Right now, it's good to have our unit back, but it's also good to have new soldiers in the formation and it gives the soldiers who were on deployment an opportunity to train them and mold them into a well-oiled unit."

Armory Manager and Resident NCO Staff Sgt. Scott Lower, a 1998 Linton-Stockton graduate, was on the both recent deployments by Alpha Company.

He was previously assigned as the Supply Sergeant for the Vincennes Armory and got a promotion to his hometown Armory in June.

He said it was good to be home and also lauded the support of the Greene County community for the support of the Guard's activities.

"Just from my experience, everybody around the towns -- the businesses and the people around in the towns and at the schools have supported us great," Lower said.

Another veteran of the last deployment, Sgt. Derrick Olson, who lives in Worthington, has stayed busy with other National Guard assignments since his return last December.

Olson, an Owen Valley High School graduate, is currently serving as the special missions NCO for Alpha Company.

Previously, he was assigned at Camp Atterbury.

He has completed three overseas deployments -- 2001 in Bosnia, 2003 and 2007 to Iraq.

Olson said if he was called to active duty again to go on an overseas deployment, he would be ready.

"I've never had any problem with them (the deployments)," he said. "I don't mind them at all."