More Oklahoma National Guard soldiers from the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will be returning home this weekend.

Officials announced Thursday morning that about 150 soldiers will return from Afghanistan and Kuwait on Saturday. This group will be the final large group of Oklahoma National Guard soldiers to return to Oklahoma following deployments to Afghanistan and Kuwait.

Soldiers are expected to arrive at the Army Aviation hangar at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, SW 54 Street, at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Many family and friends are expected to warmly welcome the returning troops and the general public is encouraged to attend.

Nearly 2,200 Oklahoma Army National Guardsmen from the 45th Infantry Brigade deployed to Afghanistan in June and an additional 800 Oklahoma Guardsman also deployed to Kuwait at the same time.

Photo by Nate Billings:  Returning soldiers listen to a speech during a homecoming ceremony for members of the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team returning from Afghanistan at the Will Rogers Air National Guard Base in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 30, 2012.

The Oklahoma National Guard announced Thursday that about 130 members of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will return from Afghanistan and Kuwait on Saturday.

This is the fifth group of 45th Soldiers to return to Oklahoma as part of their end of mission demobilization process.

Soldiers are expected to arrive at the Army Aviation hanger at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base at 10 a.m. Saturday.  Will Rogers ANG Base is located on SW 54 west of Will Rogers World Airport.

Nearly 2,200 Oklahoma Army National Guardsmen from the 45th deployed to Afghanistan in June and are currently in various stages of the demobilization process.  An additional 800 Oklahoma Guardsmen from the 45th deployed to Kuwait at the same time and are also in the process of demobilization

Photo by Steve Sisney: Oklahoma National Guardsmen Staff Sgt. David Hornback is greeted by wife Angela and three-year-old daughter Emma on his return from Afghanistan on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, in Norman, Okla. Hornback is from Broken Arrow. 

More than 40 Oklahoma National Guard soldiers will return from Afghanistan Thursday, military officials announced Tuesday.

The soldiers are with the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and will be the second group of soldiers to return to Oklahoma because of a “surge reduction” that was mandated by the Department of Defense. About 33 Oklahoma Guardsmen were the first to return to U.S. soil as part of the reduction on Dec. 15. The majority of the Brigade is expected to return in March.

The soldiers are expected to arrive at the Norman Armed Forces Reserve Center on the east side of Interstate 35 at Tecumseh Road in Norman at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Officials said nearly 2,200 Oklahoma Army National Guardsmen from the 45th deployed to Afghanistan in June and are currently serving there.  An additional 800 Oklahoma Guardsman from the 45th deployed to Kuwait at the same time.

Photo by Michael Wyke: Becca Zabinski hugs Derek Zabinski after he steps off the plane as he and 100 members of the Oklahoma Air National Guard’s 138th Fighter Wing return from a two month deployment in Iraq to the air base in Tulsa, Okla.

Oklahoma has lost another National Guardsmen in combat.

Spc. Francisco J. Briseno-Alvarez Jr., 27, of Oklahoma City, died Sunday in Laghman province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Brigade Combat Team in Stillwater.

Briseno-Alvarez Jr. was the 12th member of the Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to die in Afghanistan since July 29.

Three other soldiers were also injured in the attack, according to a release from the Oklahoma National Guard.

Briseno-Alvarez graduated from U.S. Grant High School in 2003 and joined the Oklahoma National Guard on Sept. 11, 2010, the Oklahoma National Guard release states.

He attended advanced individual training to become a truck driver, the release states.

His death was announced on the same day that Sgt. Mycal L. Prince was laid to rest. Reporter Bryan Dean attended the funeral for the fallen soldier Monday at The Bridge Assembly of God in Mustang.

Prince, 28, died Sept. 15 in Afghanistan when his unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire.

“Mycal Prince was a soldier. He wasn’t looking for glory or fame. He was simply willing and ready when his country called,” said Capt. Jeremy Dunn, an Army chaplain who officiated the service Monday.

We’ll have more on Briseno-Alvarez Jr. and Prince in tomorrow’s print edition of The Oklahoman.

Photo by Jim Beckel: Bill Trammell, a Vietnam vet and retired from the US Air Force, stands at attention while the hearse carrying the casket of Sgt. Mycal L. Prince travels west on SH 152 after leaving the church. Trammel was among hundreds of people who stood along the path of the funeral procession.