<p>Friends and family cheered and applauded 69 soldiers from the 13th Core Support Battalion Saturday as they returned home from Iraq.</p><p>The battalion hauls ammunition supplies and heavy equipment. Members are expected to be redeployed this winter, said Col. Jim Brooks, group commander of the 36th Engineer Group, which oversees the battalion.</p><p>The platoon from the battalion's 233rd Heavy Equipment Transport Company that returned home Saturday was deployed for about six months, Brooks said.</p><p>The transport company hauled tanks and armored vehicles from ports in Kuwait to Baghdad and other locations. The company was ambushed at least one time after an improvised explosive device detonated but suffered no casualties, Brooks said.</p><p>The battalion's 608th Ordnance Company, whose members also returned home Saturday, was deployed in Iraq for more than a year, he said.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x28681f4)</p>
