Rapid City National Guard unit coming home

A small South Dakota Army National Guard unit that served overseas will be welcomed home next week.

The Rapid City-based 216th Engineer Detachment is a three-member firefighting team. The soldiers served nine months in Romania, supporting U.S. and international operations in Europe.

They returned to the U.S. earlier this month and are going through the demobilization process at Fort Bliss in Texas.

A welcome-home ceremony is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday at Camp Rapid in Rapid City.

It was the second mobilization since 9/11 for the 216th, which served in Iraq from December 2003 to June 2005.