South Dakota National Guard 665th Support Maintenance Company deactivated after 10-month Germany deployment
Family members, friends and neighbors filled the Mitchell High School gymnasium Sept. 19 to welcome the Soldiers back.
Earlier this morning, Gov. Larry Rhoden and Maj. Gen. Mark Morrell, the adjutant general of the South Dakota National Guard, greeted the Soldiers as they stepped off the plane in Sioux Falls.
The 665th SMC said goodbye to loved ones in November 2025, and deployed to Germany in support of European Assure, Deter and Reinforce.
While deployed, Soldiers supported 30 units across three battalions, moved more than 600 non-mission-capable vehicles and completed more than 3,800 work orders, more than the previous two rotations combined.
In her remarks, Capt. Kasey Lanning, commander of the 665th SMC, turned the focus to the families and friends who made the deployment possible.
"Our Soldiers may wear the uniform, but deployments are never accomplished by the Soldier alone," Lanning said. "You were part of this deployment, too."
Lanning also thanked the Mitchell-area VFW, which hosted a pancake feed as the Soldiers left South Dakota and kept sending care packages throughout the deployment.
"Those packages may have seemed like small gestures," she said. "But to Soldiers living thousands of miles from home, they meant a great deal."
She thanked the businesses, schools and 4-H clubs that sent cards and letters as well, saying they "kept our Soldiers connected to home."
Morrell said the company took on aging equipment, improved its barracks and cleared out old supplies.
"They always leave it better than they found it," he said. It is a story he hears whenever South Dakota's Soldiers and Airmen deploy.
Morrell also reminded Soldiers and families that the work of coming home is not finished at the door.
"Coming home happens today," he said. "But becoming a family again under one roof, that will take time."
U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds and John Thune and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson also attended and spoke, thanking the Soldiers and their families for their service and sacrifice.
The 665th Support Maintenance Company is assigned to the 152nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 109th Regional Support Group.
The deactivation ceremony officially released the company from active-duty support and returned its Soldiers to their families, their employers and their communities.
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