NORTH RIVERSIDE — About 15 Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers who served in Afghanistan returned to Illinois this week, with a homecoming ceremony celebrating their arrival in North Riverside Friday.
The homecoming ceremony for the 244th Army Liaison Team took place at the Illinois Army National Guard's North Riverside National Guard armory, 8660 W. Cermak Road.
The soldiers were mobilized in March and trained for a brief time at Camp Shelby, Miss., before deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The 244th ALT deployed two different teams that worked at border coordination centers. The members worked with their Afghan and Pakistani counterparts to decrease cross-border incidents.
The 244th encountered nearly 800 cross-border incidents with no casualties. There were multiple occasions where both teams resolved situations before they became international incidents. They also assisted the Afghan National Security Force and Pakistani military to resolve situations and compromise on issues.
The two teams also conducted Border Flag meetings — discussions about border issues — between Afghan and Pakistani counterparts.
There are only 11 units encompassing about 300 soldiers with similar missions across the Army National Guard, Army Reserves and active duty forces.