After serving a year in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, approximately 75 Kansas National Guard soldiers of the 287th Special Troop Battalion, 287th Sustainment Brigade are being welcomed home Thursday with the remaining troops, about 180, to be welcomed home next week.

Thursday's ceremony will be held at approximately 10:45 a.m. in Building 600 at the Salina Airport. The event will be open to the public with doors opening at 9 a.m.

Soldiers of the 287th served as the logistical support for U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq in their assigned area of operations. "We're tremendously proud of these soldiers and happy to have them home," said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, Kansas adjutant general. "It's important for us to remember and pay tribute to the tremendous service these soldiers and their families continue to give the country."

Thursday's ceremony will be the first of two, with a second ceremony tentatively planned for next week in Salina for the remainder of the Battalion. Additional details will be provided regarding the time and location as they become available.

The 287th Sustainment Brigade, headquartered in Wichita, is also made up of the 169th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, headquartered in Olathe; the 891st Engineer Battalion headquartered in Iola, and the 287th Special Troop Battalion, headquartered in Hays, as well as subordinate units