Approximately 15,000 troops are now home at Fort Riley.

The First Infantry Division Headquarters just returned from a nine month deployment to Iraq where the final 150 soldiers were welcomed home on Friday, July 14th.

John Seitz, Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Council Director, said that to have that many troops here at once is a rare occurrence.

“Everybody is going to be home for a while except for the one Air Cavalry Squadron from the Combat Aviation Brigade that’s in Korea – and they’ll be back before Christmas,” said Seitz.

In the 100th anniversary of the Big Red One, the influx of personnel will be favorable for the Victory Week festivities planned in August.

“Victory Week is going to be a big deal, everybody will be back off block leave,” said Seitz. “The first week will be a lot of unit competitions, and that’s always exciting to watch those teams compete against each other.”

The festivities will culminate with the Division Review.

“There will be the award of the Victory Cup and Soldier and NCO of the Year, and it’s a great ceremony; it’s not often that you get to see the whole Division on the field at one time, so that’s going to be a very special way to end that week.”

The Division Review will take place on the Cavalry Parade Field on Friday, August 25th.

Other Victory Week events include the Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony on August 23rd as well as the day long musical festival Victory Fest on August 19th. Eli Young Band and the All-American Rejects are amongst the headline performers for Victory Fest; other acts on the main stage include The Charlie Daniels Band and Lit. Local artists and the USO Troupe will perform on a secondary stage.

Victory Week is August 16th through 25th.