For the second time this week, officials with the 101^st Airborne Division will be hosting a welcome home ceremony for local troops returning from their nine-month deployment in Afghanistan.

About 103 soldiers assigned to the 101^st Combat Aviation Brigade are scheduled to return to the local post Friday morning.

Military officials say they previously deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and their arrival coincided with the anticipated “surge” announced by the Commander-in-Chief just three months prior, and conducted more than 18,000 missions in support of the troops during that time.

The soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan is support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
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