Mo. National Guard's 1138 Military Police Company returns home

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (AP) -- Members of a Missouri National Guard military police company should be reunited with their families in southwest Missouri in time for Christmas.

The 125 members of the 1138th Military Police Company were due back Wednesday night at Fort Leonard Wood.

The company -- which includes members from West Plains and Springfield -- will spend a few days at the post, going through debriefings to make the transition back to civilian life smoother, officials said. But they should be allowed to rejoin their families early next week.

The company has been serving for the past 10 months in Kuwait and Qatar, with excursions into Iraq.

"I am a seasoned military wife after two years," said Denise Emert, whose husband, Spc. Ray Emert, is part of the 1138th. "I'm not going to breathe until he is on the East Coast and tells me what the weather is."

Being home is something of a rarity for the 1138th. The company has been on active duty for all but five months since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks two years ago.