Staff Sgt. Toric Inkelaar holds onto his son Michael, 3, as his other two children, Matthew, 4, and Lucina, 9, embrace their father at the welcome home ceremony for the ''Old Ironsides'' advance party Tuesday night at the Wiesbaden Fitness Center. (Mark Patton/Stars and Stripes)
Staff Sgt. Toric Inkelaar holds onto his son Michael, 3, as his other two children, Matthew, 4, and Lucina, 9, embrace their father at the welcome home ceremony for the ''Old Ironsides'' advance party Tuesday night at the Wiesbaden Fitness Center. (Mark Patton/Stars and Stripes)
Sgt. Alexander Mason, 146th Signal Company, smiles at his son Isaiah, 2, at Tuesday's welcome home celebration for the 1st Armored Division's advance party in Wiesbaden, Germany. Ninety-six soldiers returned from a yearlong deployment to Iraq.' (Mark Patton/Stars and Stripes)
Sgt. Alexander Mason with the 146th Signal Company, embraces his family at the welcome home ceremony for the ''Old Ironsides'' advance party Tuesday night at the Wiesbaden Fitness Center. Pictured from left to right are daughter Aminah Mason, 5; son Isaiah Mason, 2, and wife Marcia Molina. (Mark Patton/Stars and Stripes)
Lucina Inkelaar, 9, and her brother Matthew, 4, hold up a sign welcoming their father, Staff Sgt. Toric Inkelaar, back to Germany. Inkelaar was among 96 1st Armored Division advance party soldiers who returned to Wiesbaden Tuesday night following a yearlong deployment to Iraq. (Mark Patton/Stars and Stripes)
Family and friends cheer the arrival of the 1st Armored Division advance party at the Wiesbaden Fitness Center Tuesday night. Ninety-six soldiers returned from Iraq to Wiesbaden, Germany, Tuesday night. (Mark Patton/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany — An advance party of 1st Armored Division soldiers returned to Wiesbaden Tuesday night following a near-yearlong deployment to Iraq.
Family and friends welcomed the 96 soldiers from the "Old Ironsides" headquarters at a brief welcome home ceremony at te Wiesbaden Fitness Center. Most of the approximately 700 remaining soldiers will return by mid-December, according to 1st AD spokesman Maj. Bryan Woods.
The headquarters served in an advisory and training role for the Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and the western province of Anbar. Woods said the division also decreased the number of military bases in Baghdad and Anbar from 57 to nine and pushed out 1.2 million pieces of American equipment from the country.
"It was quite challenging at times ... we had to remind ourselves we're not in the driver's seat, we're in the side saddle, watching and observing," Woods said.
Headquarters troops from the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division will take the reins from1st AD when they depart.
