Military Affairs Director Craig Bender is putting together arrangements to welcome home 1st Infantry Division Soldiers from overseas deployments. The April 23rd event would be for members of the Combat Aviation Brigade and the 1st Brigade. "CAB came back in December and pending Russia doing anything kind of crazy in Ukraine, 1st Brigade should be back in the March time frame so that's why we're aiming for April, because it will give them some time to do block leave."
Bender plans to hold the welcome home at the Athletic Training Center, 935 East Fourth Street. He is trying to get the All American Beef Battalion organization to help provide food for the event. "But if that doesn't work out we're going to do a taste of Junction City. Reach out to a lot of the restaurants in town and have them come out and hopefully give out some food to Soldiers and advertise what they have in our community."
A similar welcome home event for troops was sponsored by MAC approximately two years ago in the Fifth Street Park.