CORTLANDT MANOR, NY - The 42 soldiers of the New York Army National Guard's 727th Military Police Detachment, which is based at the Camp Smith Training Site in Cortlandt Manor, have returned from Afghanistan to the United States, after serving there for the last 10 months.
Twenty of the soldiers arrived back in New York at airports near their hometowns this weekend after completing a week of out-processing at Fort Bliss, Texas. The other soldiers arrived back at Fort Bliss on Sunday and will begin their demobilization process.
The unit mobilized for deployment at the end of November in 2011. The soldiers' mission was to provide law enforcement support on U.S. and coalition bases in Afghanistan.
The soldiers will spend the next couple of months going through the New York Army National Guard's Yellow Ribbon reintegration program before resuming their duties as citizen-soldiers, serving on a part-time basis.
The New York Army National Guard currently has more than 2,000 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan and Kuwait.