It was their best gift ever.
About 70 soldiers in an advance group of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, returned to Fort Carson early Friday morning.
The 3,800-soldier unit has been serving in Iraq since spring, advising and assisting the Iraqi army, police and border enforcement across four southern provinces.
The homecoming was delayed multiple times this week, most recently Thursday by snow in Germany.
The rest of the unit will begin returning home in spring.
“You couldn’t ask for a better present,” said Chelsey Payne, who was waiting to introduce her husband, Staff Sgt. Jeremy Payne, to their month-old son, Jackson.
Scherice Morgan and her daughters, Destiny and Verity, ages 12 and 13, wore matching outfits, waiting for Sgt. 1st Class Kine Morgan, who was deployed in March.
“Thank God he is here safely — again,” Scherice Morgan said. “The third time is the charm, the fourth is a blessing.”
