After almost a year in Afghanistan, the Orangeburg 218th Brigade Company B/163rd Battalion is preparing to redeploy and return home from April through mid-May.

An estimated 90 soldiers from Company B were deployed to Afghanistan as part of Task Force Phoenix. Its primary mission was to train and mentor the Afghan National Army and National Police.

Local National Guard officials say an exact date of the Orangeburg arrival has not been determined, but they add that the soldiers will be returning in waves and not all at one time.

Sgt. First Class Chris Dyer said there are tentative plans to have a welcoming ceremony at the National Guard Armory on Stonewall Jackson Boulevard when the soldiers return and another, more formal, ceremony about a month after their return.

The Orangeburg unit, along with Walterboro, Darlington/Florence and Hampton of the 163rd Battalion, joined about 1,800 men and women of the 218th in February 2007 for what was considered the largest single deployment in the history of the South Carolina National Guard.

As part of the return process, soldiers will be flown to Fort Bragg or Fort Riley as their replacements arrive in Afghanistan and finish their in-country familiarization and training.

The soldiers will be out-processed at these stations, a process that will last three to five days.

After out-processing is complete, soldiers will be provided government transportation to their home stations and dismissed at the armory.

There will be an entire 218th Brigade welcoming-home and memorial service this fall at a time and place to be announced.

The 218th will be replaced by the 27th Brigade Combat Team, New York National Guard. An equal number of soldiers from the 27th will arrive in Afghanistan in a phased deployment.

The 218th was made up of command element, most of the support element and some of the mentors for Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) Phoenix VI, charged with training and mentoring the 60,000 man Afghan National Army and 80,000 man Afghan National Police (together, the Afghan National Security Forces or ANSF).

CJTF Phoenix VI is coordinating the efforts of some 4,900 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, along with 1,050 coalition military from 22 countries, 1,700 contract civilian mentors and trainers, and 1,000 local national interpreters.

CJTF has worked within a command and control structure, national and international relationships with governmental and non-governmental agencies, and limited manpower.

In addition to the South Carolina soldiers, troops from 40 other states will also be coming back to the States.

The deployment was a part of a five-year multinational effort designed to keep the nation on the road to recovery following the U.S.-led ouster of the Taliban after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“You have been a major role player at a turning point in this war,” Brig. Gen. Robert Livingston said in a press release issued Monday by the Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix VI Public Affairs Office. “Early in our tour the police were being destroyed by the Taliban and the army needed to take the lead in fighting. After we deployed our police mentors, the police started holding ground and gained the upper hand. Their losses dropped seven-fold.”

Livingston said that helping the local police assume control has been the key.

“We also accelerated the march forward with the army so that most kandaks (Afghan battalions) now take the lead and some are operationally independent,” he said. “Had we failed to act, the Taliban would have achieved a significant propaganda victory as well as a significant tactical victory. Instead, the ANSF achieved the victory and gained the momentum.”

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories at www.TheTandD.com.

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