DELAVAN - A lot can change in a year. That's something about 60 members of a Delavan-based Illinois National Guard unit will find out early next week when they return home from a 12-month deployment in support of the war in Iraq.

The Delavan community hopes to ease that long road home from war with a welcome-back parade Tuesday for the 1144th Transportation Battalion, which shipped out to much fanfare in April 2007 for training in Indiana and then to Kuwait.

But before they return to their day jobs and their families, the soldiers must begin the reintegration process, which they did Thursday when they arrived back at Camp Atterbury, Ind., for a three- to five-day stay.

"While a soldier's deployed, things change," such as the other spouse cutting the grass or taking care of other new chores, said Lt. Anthony Buchanan from the public affairs office at Camp Atterbury. "They're gonna return to an environment where they're not used to that.

"You've changed, and they've changed."

During the next several days, the Guard members will undergo medical evaluations, including preliminary mental health checks, and fill out paperwork, Buchanan said.

"Basically, it's a lot of decompression time, just so they can get accustomed to being in the United States again," he said.

And they can talk to family members during that time, he said. Most just turn on the cell phones they've kept in their duffel bags as soon as they arrive, he said.

The Illinois National Guard could not say Friday what day exactly the unit would be arriving back at the Delavan armory, though demobilization at Camp Atterbury typically takes three to five days. (Like other Guard units, it's made up of men and women from across Illinois, not just from the area.)

But Delavan, a city of about 2,000, is planning a welcome-home parade through downtown Tuesday, though greeters will be ready for a date change if need be, said City Clerk Penny Bright.

The Delavan-based unit was part of the larger Joint Logistics Task Force at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, according to the National Guard. The task force helped transport needed supplies via truck, as Iraq has minimal rail transportation, the Illinois Guard said.

The current version of the task force, which included the Delavan unit, completed more than 1,200 missions and racked up nearly 30 million miles on the road, or about 110,000 miles each day, the Guard said. When one adds in the miles driven by the task force gun truck escorts, that adds another 10,000 miles per day, the Guard said.

Ryan Denham can be reached at rdenham@pantagraph.com. Joyell Collins can be reached at joyellc@gmail.com.