Three Mower County soldiers are about to come home.

Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Kneeskern and Sgt. Robert Cecil, both of Austin, and Staff Sgt. Chad Emanuel of Elkton, along with about 140 total soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard’s Chisholm-based 114th Transportation Company, are scheduled to return to Minnesota next week after a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan.

“The 114th Transportation Company worked hard over the last three years and used that experience to successfully drawdown International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan,” said Army Capt. Ryan R. Koester, 114th Transportation Company commander, in a press release.

The unit escorted equipment and supplies to sustain the war and help with the draw-down in Afghanistan.

“We made history by drawing down in a hostile theater of operations which has been ongoing for the last 13 years,” Koester said in the release. “We moved equipment over a combined 85,000 miles to close down five forward operating bases in the most dangerous region of Afghanistan with no combat casualties. The soldiers of the 114th Transportation Company and their families should be proud of our accomplishments over the last nine months in Afghanistan.”

The soldiers arrived at a demobilization site on Saturday.

“The soldiers will undergo medical and dental examinations, attend briefings on federal and state benefits, conduct equipment turn-in and complete administrative documentation,” said Army Lt. Col. Joseph J. Sharkey, 347th Regional Support Group’s executive officer, said in a press release. “We anticipate them arriving next week once they complete their tasks.”

The Mower County soldiers declined requests for comment.