LEAVENWORTH, Kan. - Approximately 22 National Guardsmen of the 35th Infantry Division will be welcomed home from their deployment to Kosovo during a ceremony on Sunday, July 13.

The ceremony will take place at Warren Middle School, 3501 New Lawrence Road, Leavenworth, Kan.. The doors will open at 11:30 a.m. and the soldiers will arrive on busses from their demobilization station at Camp Atterbury, Ind., between noon and 1 p.m.

They will be greeted by families and friends as well as Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general and Maj. Gen. M. Wayne Pierson, 35th ID commander and other dignitaries. A short welcome ceremony will follow.

This is the first group of 35th ID soldiers returning from this deployment.
Another group will return approximately July 15 to 17. The time and place for their return ceremony will be announced later.

"These soldiers have done an outstanding job on this mission," said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general. "I had the privilege to visit these troops during their deployment and was impressed by their professionalism and positive attitude in everything they did. I expected the best from them and they delivered. We're glad to have them home."

About 200 soldiers of the division deployed in July 2007 to become the headquarters unit for Task Force Falcon, a multinational peacekeeping force that was part of KFOR-9. The 35th Infantry Division served as the lead element of multi-national task force east (MNTF-E). The 35th ID assumed control of operations in MNTF-E in November 2007 at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo.

The task force was under the command of Brig. Gen. John E. Davoren; Sgt. Maj. Timothy Cochran was command sergeant major. The task force included approximately 1,500 soldiers from the U.S. Army active component, Army National Guard and Army Reserve.

The 35th Division is one of eight divisions in the Army National Guard and is made up of Guardsmen from Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.