The 119 soldiers of the 224 Engineers, Oregon Army National Guard, returned to their home base in Albany on Saturday, to be greeted with hugs from family and friends. They left about a year ago, trained for two months in Ft. McCoy, Wis., and served about 10 months in Iraq.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski will take part in their formal demobilization ceremony at 2 p.m. today, June 11, at the Linn County Fair & Expo Center.

On Saturday, the soldiers flew from Ft. Hood, Texas, arriving at Mahlon Sweet Airport in Eugene shortly after 2 p.m. They were bused to the Albany Armory, with an escort from law enforcement agencies and members of more than a half-dozen motorcycle groups.

A picnic to honor the troops was held at Timber-Linn Memorial Park.

Four of the soldiers - Spc. Andrew Ivan McCready, Pfc. Peter John Croco, Pvt. Cooper Ray Huffman and Pvt. Gary Jay Pfeider II - live in Lebanon and a fifth - Spec. Paul Jordan Lafranchise of Corvallis - grew up here.

The mission of the company was to clear roads and provide other infrastructure support. The unit is primarily a horizontal construction unit specializing in rebuilding roadways and berms. The troops also helped build temporary outposts for Coalition Forces and the Iraqi Army.

This was the second deployment to Iraq for this unit. As the Bravo Company, 52 Engineers, it went to Iraq in 2003. The name of the unit changed with an army reorganization a few years ago.