[4/1/04]One of the largest contingents from the Vicksburg area deployed to Iraq will be back in a week.

Members of the Mississippi HHC 168th Engineer Group deployed for nearly a year arrived in Fort Stewart, Ga., Wednesday and are expected back in Vicksburg after debriefing and other duties.

The group will disperse from the armory near Flowers after arriving there next Wednesday or Thursday. Coordinators are organizing a homecoming ceremony and are asking local groups to contact Barry Graham, special project coordinator with the city, at 636-2122 about making banners to post along Interstate 20.

Lt. Col. Ellis Riser of the 168th said about 58 soldiers out of the 66 who deployed last year arrived in Georgia throughout the day. About eight will remain in Iraq for two more weeks.

The company will arrive by bus, but the exact time will not be known until next week. Riser said they are aiming to be here between 10 a.m. and noon.

“We won’t know anything firm until Monday,” Riser said.

The unit arrived in Kuwait on April 11 in support of operations in Iraq that had begun three weeks earlier. During their 11 months, the engineering group completed 1,500 projects in Iraq and supported every U.S. division there, including the U.S. Army 5th Corps, the lead combat element.

The 168th’s mission was to manage construction in Iraq and the group completed several military tasks as well as civilian works, including rebuilding five schools, converting a former Baath party headquarters into a medical clinic and building soccer fields.

About half the group’s members are from Warren County and the surrounding area, and half are from other parts of the state.

Riser said he expects the welcome home ceremony to be short to allow members to be with their families. He said the unit will return the next day for more debriefing.

Graham said that banners should be 3 feet by 12 feet or larger and should be sent to the Flowers Vicksburg Readiness Center by April 6. The banners will be put out before the group’s arrival by the homecoming coordinators.