JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - About 250 Soldiers assigned to the I

Corps Headquarters will be reunited with friends and family at Joint

Base Lewis-McChord with a "homecoming" ceremony at Wilson Gym, JBLM

Lewis North, currently scheduled for 9 p.m. March 3.

The I Corps Soldiers recently completed a 12-month deployment to Iraq,

where I Corps served as the headquarters element for Multi-National

Corps Iraq, supporting U.S. and multi-national units deployed in support

of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

As MNC-I, the Corps' mission included command and control of

multi-national forces supporting Iraqi security operations and

coordinating the planned reduction of U.S. forces and equipment in Iraq

and ongoing transfer of security responsibilities to Iraqi Security

Forces.

I Corps' staff worked closely with Iraqi Ground Force Command (IGFC),

establishing a Combined Partnership Operations Center (CPOC) at Camp

Victory to further improve communication and coordination with Iraqi

Security Forces. By June 30th, 2009, U.S. and multi-national coalition

forces had successfully withdrawn to bases outside urban city centers,

and Iraqi Security Forces assumed direct control for security operations

in Iraqi cities.

Multi-National Corps Iraq became U.S. Forces Iraq in January, 2010,

further consolidating command and control of U.S. forces deployed in

support of operations in Iraq, as part of the planned withdrawl of

forces stipulated in the January, 2009 Security Agreement with the Iraqi

government.

This will be the first large group of I Corps Soldiers to return since

approximately 100 returned with the unit's advance party about two weeks

ago. An additional 120 Soldiers assigned to I Corps' Analysis and

Control Element returned in December, 2009. The unit's remaining

Soldiers are expected to return to Joint Base Lewis-McChord within the

next several weeks.