AUBURN – The final 20 soldiers of the Army Reserve’s 619th Transportation Company, based in Auburn, are scheduled to return home this afternoon.

After a year in Iraq, the group volunteered to stay behind to make sure equipment made it back to the United States.

During its yearlong stay in Iraq, the company, which numbers more than 100 soldiers, logged 278 missions and traveled an estimated 1.2 million miles, according to Capt. Andrew Love of the 619th.

When the majority of the company’s soldiers arrived on Feb. 14, more than 1,000 family members were there with balloons and signs. They stood on chairs and leaned on balcony railings.

Dawn Rancourt was there for the ceremony, though her husband chose to lead the troops who stayed behind. Her husband, David Rancourt, is the Army Reserve unit’s first sergeant. They haven’t seen each other in more than a year.

“As a leader, he chose to stay,” said his wife, a Lewiston police officer and a former member of the same unit. “That’s the kind of person he is.”