Idaho unit may come home early

BOISE – The 1,700 members of the Idaho National Guard serving with the 116th Combat Brigade in Iraq might return home more than a month earlier than expected.

“Currently the brigade’s scheduled to start returning at the end of October and the first two or three days of November,” Joe Hitt, a civilian spokesman for the U.S. Army’s Fort Lewis in Washington state, told Boise television station KBCI. “But the times are subject to change, depending on the availability of aircraft and what’s going on in the theater.”

In Iraq, the 116th is attached to the 42nd Infantry Division, and Maj. Steve Goldenberg, spokesman for the 42nd ID, also confirmed the time frame, again emphasizing that the dates could change.

The 116th left Idaho in July 2004 for an 18-month deployment. It first went to Texas, then Louisiana for more training, before taking up positions in northern Iraq in December. The 116th had previously not been expected back until sometime before Christmas.

The first stop on U.S. soil for the 116th will be Fort Lewis, where the guardsmen will begin the demobilization process.