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More than 300 soldiers with the 1st Infantry Division headquarters will return from Iraq and Kuwait this month starting with a group of more than 180 set to return at 4 a.m. on Friday to Fort Riley.

A group of about 500 soldiers deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, in October. Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin led the deployment after replacing Maj. Gen. Wayne Grigsby as commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley.

The unit worked in a coalition with 23 countries and with other U.S. military branches to support Iraqi troops with intelligence information, logistics, supplies and communication, in the effort to liberate Mosul from Islamic State control.

Since the unit deployed, 1.8 million people were liberated in Mosul, which had been under ISIS control since June 2014. More than 350,000 children have returned to school, 320 schools have reopened and 195,000 internally displaced persons have returned to their homes.

The initial 500 soldiers included rotational forces that deployed to and have already left Iraq and Kuwait, said Jason Roberts, a 1st Infantry Division spokesman. The remaining 300 soldiers will return by the end of July.

The unit is the third division returning to Fort Riley this year. More than 800 soldiers with the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, returned from Afghanistan in April.

Almost 4,000 soldiers of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, recently returned from the Republic of Korea starting in May.

The entire 1st Infantry Division is expected to be on post for Victory Week, an annual celebration that starts Aug. 21 and features live music and entertainment for military families and the surrounding community.

In another Friday ceremony, Col. John M. Cyrulik will relinquish command to Col. Chris Black after two years in command of the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade at 10 a.m. on the Cavalry Parade Field.

Cyrulik is slated to become the commandant at Citadel Military College in Charleston, South Carolina.

Black comes from Duke University where he served as a fellow in National Security, Strategy and Policy.

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1st ID headquarters to return from Iraq - Manhattan Mercury (subscription)