(Johnston, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Army National Guard said Monday (Today), approximately 150 Soldiers will be honored in a community welcome home ceremony for the 3654th Support Maintenance Company, o Tuesday, Nov. 23rd, beginning at 11:45 a.m.  The ceremony takes place at the Des Moines International Airport, Endeavor Air hangar, 2811 Willow Creek Ave.

The public is welcome and encouraged to attend the homecoming ceremony. Parking is located a couple of blocks away from the hanger; therefore, it is recommended to arrive early. Vans are available to shuttle attendees to and from the hanger. Masks are required for this event. Iowans can also view the ceremony live by going to the Iowa National Guard Facebook page @IowaNationalGuard.

The unit is headquartered in Knoxville and supported by a detachment based in Oskaloosa. During the company’s deployment, they covered a vast area, maintaining military equipment at 22 locations within U.S. Central Command. The CENTCOM region encompasses 27 countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Within the region, the company provided a broad spectrum of support, including COVID-19 response teams, Afghanistan retrograde operations, non-combatant evacuation operations, and area recovery support. The 3654th SMC also provided maintenance advisory teams to help other organizations in CENTCOM build successful maintenance programs.

During the 3654th SMC’s deployment, Soldiers supported Operation Spartan Shield, Operation Inherent Resolve, and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.