MADISON – The Wisconsin National Guard will host a welcome home ceremony Friday for more than 200 soldiers returning from a yearlong deployment overseas.
The soldiers were deployed in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, an area spanning 21 countries in regions including the Middle East, northeastern Africa, and central and south Asia, where the military plans and directs operations.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin previously called on the U.S. Defense Health Agency in March to look into reports that soldiers injured in the Iran war, including some from Wisconsin, were not receiving adequate and timely care after returning from the Middle East.
According to Baldwin’s letter, she heard accounts from Wisconsin service members in the 103rd Sustainment Command of the Army Reserve who were injured in a March 1 drone attack on their facility in Kuwait.
The letter also stated that many injured soldiers could not be evacuated for several days due to ongoing fighting, then located to Fort Hood, where they faced delays in receiving proper evaluation and seeing medical specialists like neurologists.
The ceremony, welcoming the state’s National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry Regiment, is set to take place at the Appleton Flight Center at 1:30 p.m. on May 29.
Composed of more than 9,000 soldiers, the Wisconsin National Guard and Air National Guard frequently deploy across the globe to support federal missions and are prepared to assist with domestic emergencies.
Clara Strecker is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel state Capitol bureau intern. She can be reached at cstrecker@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin National Guard to welcome home deployed soldiers
Reporting by Clara Strecker, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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