FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) – The first soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division’s Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion are beginning to return home to Kansas from deployment in Afghanistan.

On Monday, about 50 soldiers from the battalion and 300 from the division’s 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were welcomed home during a ceremony with friends and family at FortRiley.

Soldiers with the headquarters battalion spent the last year in eastern Afghanistan as part of the regional command. The 4th Brigade were also part of the eastern command but were deployed for about nine months.

More flights are expected to arrive from Afghanistan over the next month as all remaining soldiers return to the northeast Kansas post.