Colorado Welcomes Home, Bids Farewell To Soldiers

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP/CBS4) -- Colorado soldiers were welcomed home and bid farewell as they returned from and left for Afghanistan.

The Colorado National Guard hosted a welcome-home ceremony Saturday morning at its Centennial headquarters for 10 citizen soldiers.

These soldiers partnered with 90 soldiers from Slovenia during a 13-month mission to instruct the Afghan National Army in operations like mission execution and operational planning.

Saturday afternoon, Gov. John Hickenlooper and other officials said goodbye to about 70 soldiers at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora.

The soldiers are heading to Fort Hood, Texas, for training before departing to the Kandahar province of Afghanistan for a yearlong deployment.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)