More than 400 Indiana National Guard soldiers reunited with their loved ones Wednesday at Indianapolis International Airport when they returned home from a deployment to the Middle East that lasted nearly a year.

The soldiers, part of the 38th Infantry Division, had deployed in support of Operation Spartan Shield, a service news release said. The operation is aimed at building up the capacity of partners in the Middle East.

About 600 soldiers from the division supported the operation.

The troops conducted 15 exercises, according to the release, and also provided command and control of combat forces in theater.

“At every critical moment you delivered a superb performance. I am just so very thankful for each one of you,” Maj. Gen. Dan Degelow, the division’s commanding general, said in overseas comments quoted by the release.

One member of the division died in Iraq in December 2024 in a noncombat incident. He was one of about 70 Indiana National Guard troops supporting Operation Inherent Resolve at the time, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported, with hundreds of others from the state simultaneously supporting Spartan Shield.