Another 60 soldiers from the Washington National Guard's 81st Brigade Combat Team are returning home tomorrow. The soldiers are expected to arrive at McChord Air Force Base at about 11:20 a.m.

The brigade is in the midst of its slow trickle back home from Fort McCoy, Wis., where they are undergoing a demobilization process that includes briefings on pay and benefits and help transitioning back into civilian life. The entire brigade is expected home by mid-August.

UPDATE: The arrival time has been updated to 3:30 p.m.

Forty soldiers from the Washington National Guard’s 81st Brigade Combat Team will arrive at McChord Air Force Base tomorrow morning.

The brigade of 3,500 soldiers – 2,400 of whom are from Washington – was mobilized in August and deployed to Iraq in October, where it primarily performed convoy security missions.

A charter airplane from Fort McCoy, Wis., will land at McChord at about 3:30 p.m. A bus will take the soldiers to Wilson Gym on North Fort Lewis, where they will be reunited with their families.

More information on how to attend the homecoming ceremonies is here.

Military Times is reporting the Post-9/11 GI Bill might not be so sweet for National Guard soldiers who have been mobilized:

According to the (National Guard Association of the United States), 30,000 to 33,000 National Guardsmen who served during the post-9/11 era in homeland defense roles don’t qualify for the generous program, which completely covers the full in-state cost of a college education for nearly everyone who has served more than three years on active duty since Sept. 10, 2001.

The group says that’s because the Guardsmen were activated in a Title 32 status — which governs Guardsmen activated for federal duty under the control of a governor, but paid with federal dollars — instead of under Title 10, under which troops, no matter what their affiliation, are on full-time active service under the control of the president. The legislation that enabled the Post-9/11 GI Bill provides the benefit only to those who were or are in a Title 10 status.

The VA Puget Sound has sent one of its public affairs officials to Fort McCoy, Wis., to cover the demobilization process for the Washington National Guard's 81st Brigade Combat Team. Here's the homepage for Shane Suzuki's work -- he's shooting photos and writing some blog posts.

An excerpt from yesterday:

A quick success story from Tommy Carson, an employment transition counselor here. He just stopped by to tell me the story of a soldier who, in the best of situations, would be considered incredibly unlucky - until he came to the team of professionals who helped him get his life on a new and better track.

While deployed to Iraq, his girlfriend began seeing someone else. Sad, but not uncommon. The only problem is, they have a child. In many cases, this means the soldier loses everything and is sent into a depressing downward cycle.

This is where this new model of conversation and hands on transition assistance comes into play. Instead of sitting through a bunch of briefs with phone numbers to call and then sent back to a depressing situation on his own, this soldier talked about his lack of job, home and family to one of the counselors here. Now, instead of coming home to nothing, the counselors here found him a place to stay, a new job to return to, and has heard from his daughter that she wants to live with him because she doesn’t like what her mother did.

This Domino Effect of a returning soldier’s life falling apart one piece at a time is what, in many cases, leads to the terrible news stories we’ve all read in the press. This intervention thankfully averted a terrible story we will never have to hear.

According to Tommy, "These information stations and the people sitting behind them these opportunities are life changing and life altering. That’s why we are here, that’s what this day is all about."

The folks at VA Puget Sound also have launched a Twitter feed (@vapugetsound). And while you're logging on Twitter, don't forget to add the TNT's military feed (@tntmilitary).

Another 160 soldiers from the Washington National Guard’s 81st Brigade Combat Team will arrive at McChord Air Force Base tomorrow afternoon, ending an 11-month mobilization that saw them serve in Iraq.

A charter airplane from Fort McCoy, Wis., will land at McChord at about 4 p.m. A bus will take the soldiers to Wilson Gym on North Fort Lewis, where they will be reunited with their families.

More information on how to attend the homecoming ceremonies is here.

UPDATE: Soldiers from the following units are expected to be on the plane:

Headquarters, 81st Brigade Combat Team
181st Brigade Support Battalion
1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry Regiment
2nd Battalion, 146th Field Artillery Regiment

In a speech to the 250 soldiers of the 81st Brigade Combat Team who returned home Saturday, Gov. Chris Gregoire repeated a theme that has been a constant of almost every address she has given to the Washington National Guard’s largest unit since it left for Iraq last year.

"As you come home, we are here to help you," she said at a homecoming ceremony on North Fort Lewis. "And to your family and friends who are here to greet you, we are here to help you in any way possible."

The help began at Fort McCoy, Wis., at a demobilization process that helps them ease back into civilian life. Washington is the first state to use the program for its soldiers.

But some of the soldiers who have returned complain the six-day process at Fort McCoy takes too long and is at the wrong time, while state officials say it’s the best way to reach everyone who needs help.

"It’s a painstaking process," said Spc. Frank Bonafe, a Washington D.C. resident serving with the 81st Brigade. "I’m not impressed by it. I like the idea of demobbing in your home state. (At Fort McCoy) You can’t go anywhere. You don’t know anybody. You just want to get out."

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I’ve received a few e-mails about what units of the 81st Brigade Combat Team will arrive Saturday afternoon. Here’s the list, conveniently ripped off from the Washington National Guard’s Web site:

Alpha and Bravo companies, 181st Brigade Support Battalion
Headquarters company, 81st Brigade Combat Team
Headquarters company, 81st Brigade Special Troops Battalion
Charlie and Echo companies, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment

Hotel Company of 1-161 is also returning home Saturday, but those soldiers will land at Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane.

(Photo by Scott Fontaine/The News Tribune)

Another 250 members of the 81st Brigade Combat Team are coming home Saturday.

The homecoming ceremony will follow the routine of Wednesday’s homecoming, the first for the 3,500 Washington National Guard unit. A charter plane will land at McChord Air Force Base, and a homecoming ceremony in Wilson Gym at North Fort Lewis will follow.

Additional arrivals to McChord and Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane continue over the next two weeks.

"I am honored to welcome the soldiers home after their long sacrifice and time away from their families," Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement. "These courageous men and women of the 81st deserve our utmost gratitude for their commitment and service to our state and our country."

Staff Sgt. Derrick Grasty squinted against the blinding light, walked down the metal steps from the passenger jet and shook hands with dignitaries at McChord Air Force Base to greet his flight.

About 15 seconds later, reality sunk in.

The Lacey resident threw his arms skyward and let out an ear-splitting yell. A colleague from the 81st Brigade Combat Team smiled and patted Gratsy on the back. Another pumped his fist into the air.

"I just couldn’t help myself," Gratsy said later. "It just felt too good."

He and hundreds of others had good reason to celebrate Wednesday: The first group of the 81st Brigade, about 150 Washington National Guard soldiers, returned home from an 11-month mobilization that sent them to Iraq.

The brigade of 3,500 soldiers – about 2,400 of whom are from Washington – served across Iraq, and most of the soldiers guarded contractor-driven supply convoys that delivered water, fuel and other supplies to American military bases.

Other units of the 81st Brigade were tasked with running daily operations of bases, performing base-defense patrols and providing personal security detail.

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Three state agencies are teaming with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans organizations to help members of the 81st Brigade Combat Team transition back into civilian life.

Three agencies – the Washington National Guard, the State Department of Veterans Affairs and the Employment Security Department – are delivering a series of briefings at Fort McCoy, Wis., to the 2,400 Washington citizens who are returning from a yearlong deployment to Iraq.

The sessions include information on pay, benefits and transitioning back into civilian life. Topics include VA claim, finding employment and career training. Four women service officers are at the post in a private area to provide assistance to unit’s female soldiers, and mental health counselors are available to all.

The process should take about six days, according a Camp Murray spokesman.

"We know these brave men and women just want to get back to their families," Gregoire said in a release. "But we also know what can happen if veterans don’t take care of any combat-related issues they may come home with. Just look at my generation, Vietnam veterans, who are only now contacting the VA for help. This Washington state team is going to welcome our National Guard members home the right way by bringing the services to them before they get home."

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars are also sending representatives to help the homecoming effort.

The 81st Brigade Combat Team is coming home.

The first 150 soldiers from the Washington National Guard’s largest unit arrive at McChord Air Force Base tomorrow morning, 11 months after the brigade was mobilized for its second deployment to Iraq.

The plane is expected to touch down at 11:45 a.m. A welcome reception at Wilson Gym on North Fort Lewis will follow; Gov. Chris Gregoire and Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, the state’s adjutant general, will attend.

About 3,500 soldiers, including 2,400 from Washington, serve in the 81st Brigade. After mobilization, the unit trained at Fort McCoy, Wis., and Camp Buehring, Kuwait, before arriving in Iraq in October and November. The soldiers served throughout the country, mainly providing security for supply convoys and running daily operations on American military bases.

The rest of the brigade is expected to return over the next two weeks. The soldiers are returning from Fort McCoy, where they received health checkups and briefings on pay, benefits and transitioning back into civilian life.

The 81st lost one soldier on its deployment: Spc. Samuel D. Stone of Port Orchard was killed May 30 when his M1117 Armored Security Vehicle rolled during a convoy mission outside Tallil. The accident occurred less than two weeks before Stone's 21st birthday.

The Air Force's controversial plan to cut 98 positions in a Washington Air National Guard unit that handles highly classified cybersecurity missions could be reversed after U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks inserted an amendment to a defense spending bill that protects the positions.

And Sen. Patty Murray is considering options to add the same protection for the 194th Regional Support Wing to the Senate version of the bill, the Democrat’s spokesman said.

"This unit does important work," Dicks, D-Belfair, told The News Tribune on Thursday. "We’re gonna fight this issue."

The Air Force announced earlier this month it would eliminate the jobs by Oct. 1 as part of its annual budgeting process. That provoked Dicks, Rep. Adam Smith and Murray to issue a joint letter last month to Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, the head of the Air National Guard, asking him to reconsider.

The cuts targeted the wing’s command structure, training, recruiting, retention and equipment positions.

The Camp Murray-based unit – which specializes in cybersecurity missions, intelligence, joint terminal attack control and combat communications – has more than 1,000 airmen, but the lawmakers believed the changes would have crippled the unit's ability to perform its mission.

"We think this was a terrible mistake," Dicks said. "Cybersecurity is one of the most important issues we face."

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