North Dakota Guard Home After Homeland Security Duty

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — More than 200 North Dakota National Guard soldiers have returned home from a yearlong homeland security mission.

The soldiers with the 1st Battalion of the 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment flew into Grand Forks and Bismarck on Tuesday, after going through the demobilization process at Fort Bliss, Texas.

The soldiers served in the Washington, D.C., area, beginning last July, helping protect the air space around the nation's capital.

The Guard plans a formal public welcome-home ceremony called a Freedom Salute in about three months.