WACO -- The last time the families and soldiers of the 56th Brigade gathered in the Baylor Bears' football stadium, worry consumed virtually everyone.

It was New Year's Day, and 3,000 National Guard troops were hours from shipping out to Iraq in the largest overseas deployment of the Texas National Guard since World War II.

"We did not expect to see you until next month," said Maj. Gen. Michael Taylor, commander of the 36th Infantry Division. "Santa Claus came early this year."

The two-hour ceremony featured patriotic songs, the uncasing of the colors, a brigade history, speeches from politicians and generals, even a naturalization ceremony.

Twenty-nine soldiers from Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Vietnam and three other countries who served in the brigade were sworn in as American citizens.

The soldiers, many of them a decade older than their counterparts in the regular Army, have been on active duty since August 2004 and have seen their families only sparingly since then.

"Words can't express how it feels to have my best friend back," said Trisha Caudill, the wife of Sgt. James Caudill. The Fort Worth family was profiled by the Star-Telegram in January.

The brigade, whose headquarters is in Fort Worth, had units from throughout North and West Texas, including Fort Worth, Arlington, Denton, Weatherford, Irving, Mineral Wells and Brownwood.

The soldiers began arriving at Fort Hood last weekend, although officials said about 500 soldiers are still in Iraq or Kuwait. They are due home in the next two weeks.

The soldiers carried out more than 7,000 combat patrols and racked up 1.3 million miles on the road, almost all of them at night, according to the brigade's history.

Despite that, the brigade had a surprisingly low number of casualties compared with other National Guard units in Iraq. Five soldiers were killed -- three in accidents, two in combat.

Working with the Iraqi Ministry of Education and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the brigade helped build 15 schools and complete several city infrastructure projects, officials said.

Many had no elaborate plans, no big trips on the books. Instead, the soldiers and families said they were ready for the routine of home life again.

"I'm ready to have him home again," said Elizabeth Davis, whose husband, Sgt. Jackie Davis, serves in the 2nd Battalion, 112th Armor Regiment in Fort Worth. "I'm ready to get back to normal."

Spc. Johnny Armenta, a college student who also serves in the 2nd Battalion, 112th Armor, joked with his wife that he's ready for a break from orders.

"She had to transform from a woman into a soldier, so I've got some friends of hers to take her to get a massage, a pedicure, a facial, that kind of stuff, kind of a chicks' day," said her husband, Daniel Nelson.

Cpl. Billy Webb, who survived an ambush in June and a homemade-bomb attack in August, will be out on Lake Bridgeport with a fishing pole in his hand.

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