The South Dakota Army National Guard on Sunday will welcome home soldiers from Detachment 3, Company A, 641st Aviation Regiment.

The public is invited to attend a ceremony at 2:30 p.m. at the Army Aviation Support Facility near Rapid City Regional Airport.

The unit was deployed for more than six months in in Iraq, providing aviation support to units in theater, according to a news release. During the deployment, the unit was stationed at Logistical Support Area Anaconda, about 45 miles north of Baghdad. The detachment deployed with three additional detachments from Washington, Oregon and Oklahoma to form Company A, 641st Aviation Regiment.

"It is a good feeling to have successfully flown over the skies of Iraq for six months," said Maj. David Doran, commander, Company A, Oregon Army National Guard. "It's an even better feeling now that all the air crews are safely back."

Specializing in transporting personnel and cargo with its C-23 Sherpa cargo planes, the 641st flew 4,045 hours, carried 21,047 passengers and hauled 9,140,165 pounds of cargo and equipment throughout the combat zone during the tour.

"These numbers have never been achieved in a six-month period by any unit that has come before Alpha Company," Doran said. "In short, the soldiers in this company gave their very best effort, day in and day out. They held nothing back; they left it all out on the field."

This was the unit's second deployment to Iraq as it was mobilized as Detachment 3, Company A, 249th Aviation on Dec. 1, 2004, and deployed there in January 2005, returning in January 2006.

"It has been a tour of which we are all enormously proud," Doran said. "We have courageously done our job and are now ready to return to our family and friends."

Since the terrorist attacks on America, the South Dakota National Guard has mobilized more than 3,100 soldiers and 730 airmen in support of overseas military action.

Currently, more than 250 soldiers and airmen from the South Dakota National Guard remain on duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations throughout Southwest Asia. More than 4,000 National Guardsmen are available in South Dakota to provide support for state and national emergencies and homeland defense.