By: Max Steigauf / Assistant News Director

The Brainerd based National Guard unit, Task Force 1-194, has been welcomed home, with soldiers from across the region returning to Minnesota.

The task force of 1,000 soldiers deployed last March and conducted missions mainly in the Middle East. The unit participated in the largest joint U.S.-Egyptian military ground exercise.

The task force also participated in operation Spartan Shield, helping evacuate U.S. soldiers and Afghan refugees during the evacuation of Afghanistan last year. According to a media release by the unit, the task force applied medical assistance to 5,000 Afghan refugees at the Kabul airport.

Soldiers from St. Cloud, St. Joseph, Monticello, Sartell and Sauk Centre completed their deployment.