In this Dec. 3, 2010, photo, U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Sean Willis, 35, from Denver, N.C. stands with fellow soldiers from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division at al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq as the unit gathers before beginning their 18-hour journey home after a year in Iraq. The first time Sgt. 1st Class Willis returned from Iraq in 2003, he was whisked away to attend the birth of his son. Four deployments later, his seven-year-old son, Aidan, was on hand to meet him at Fort Stewart, Ga. More than seven years after 1st Brigade entered Baghdad as the first conventional U.S. forces in Iraq, its soldiers are coming home from a yearlong deployment that saw the end of combat operations. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)