The second flight of the main body of the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, returning from Iraq and arrived home Saturday; the soldiers were welcomed during an early morning ceremony on Fort Stewart.
A crowd of about friends and family members on Cottrell Field received about 200 soldiers.
Lt. Col. P. Brian Gale II, 3rd ID rear detachment commander, welcomed the Marne soldiers home, thanking them for their 15 months of service with Task Force Marne, south of Baghdad.
"You and your fellow Marne soldiers secured an area the size of West Virginia, suppressing the violence in that region and denying extremists safe haven," Gale said. "You have also succeeded magnificently in building up the capacities of Iraq. Your names, and the names of the operations you conducted while deployed are written large in the history of Iraq. Dog-face Soldiers, you have every right to be proud of what you have done."
Task Force Marne is under the command of Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, 3rd Infantry Division commander. The division headquarters is scheduled to begin its redeployment in late spring to early summer.
About 520 soldiers from the STB have come home so far.
Following Gale's welcome and the national anthem, the Marne Song and the Army Song accompanied by the 3rd Infantry Division Band, the family members and friends rushed from the parade field's reviewing stands to greet their soldiers.
A crowd of about friends and family members on Cottrell Field received about 200 soldiers.
Lt. Col. P. Brian Gale II, 3rd ID rear detachment commander, welcomed the Marne soldiers home, thanking them for their 15 months of service with Task Force Marne, south of Baghdad.
"You and your fellow Marne soldiers secured an area the size of West Virginia, suppressing the violence in that region and denying extremists safe haven," Gale said. "You have also succeeded magnificently in building up the capacities of Iraq. Your names, and the names of the operations you conducted while deployed are written large in the history of Iraq. Dog-face Soldiers, you have every right to be proud of what you have done."
Task Force Marne is under the command of Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, 3rd Infantry Division commander. The division headquarters is scheduled to begin its redeployment in late spring to early summer.
About 520 soldiers from the STB have come home so far.
Following Gale's welcome and the national anthem, the Marne Song and the Army Song accompanied by the 3rd Infantry Division Band, the family members and friends rushed from the parade field's reviewing stands to greet their soldiers.