Madison troops come home from Iraq

Amy Alston embraces her husband, Maj. Jeffrey Alston, of Madison, at a homecoming for the 105th CAV at the Wisconsin National Guard Armory on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010. Mike DeVries - The Capital Times























Amy Alston, left, Sarah Marks, center, and daughter Kaitlin Marks, 12, anxiously await the arrival of soldiers for their homecoming at the Wisconsin National Guard Armory on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010. Alston is waiting for her husband, Maj. Jeffrey Alston. Sarah and Kaitlin Marks are waiting for their husband and father, respectively. Mike DeVries - The Capital Times

They're back

The first wave of Wisconsin National Guard soldiers is scheduled to return home Tuesday after a yearlong deployment that included seven months in Iraq, officials announced this afternoon. The 3,200 soldiers made up the largest operational deployment of the Wisconsin Guard since World War II.

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What's wrong with this picture? Wisconsin troops destroy beer in Iraq

From the Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office in Baghdad:
"Because U.S. soldiers are not allowed to possess or consume alcohol in a combat zone, a 5-ton truck crushes beer left behind at a foreign compound formerly occupied by those who don’t have such a rule. Alpha Troop, 105th Cavalry reports there wasn’t a dry eye on the base as the beer was destroyed. Photo provided by Troop A, 1-105th Cavalry." For more from the PAO, go to madison.com/wsj.