DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – More than 600 Iowa soldiers are coming home from Iraq after spending almost two years away from their families.

Portions of the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry arrived Monday in Fort McCoy, Wis., for demobilization. The rest of the Iowa National Guard unit will arrive throughout the week and receive a homecoming celebration in Iowa later this month or August, Guard officials said. Details are pending.

“It’s one more step closer to going home, and hopefully in less than a week we’ll take that final step,” said Spc. Ethan Soliday of Dubuque. “It’ll be really great then.”

The soldiers were mobilized in October 2005 and arrived in Iraq in April 2006, primarily for close combat and security missions. They were scheduled to return home last April but were ordered in January to stay until the summer _ part of President Bush’s plan to add 21,500 more troops in Iraq to quell insurgency.

The unit is based in Waterloo with detachments in Dubuque, Oelwein, Iowa Falls and Charles City. Two of its soldiers died during its stay in Iraq: Sgt. 1st Class Scott Nisely of Marshalltown and Sgt. Kampha Sourivong of Iowa City.

About 500 of the soldiers arrived Monday at Fort McCoy after a long trip that began in Kuwait and included two refueling stops. They landed at Volk Field Wisconsin Air National Guard Base and were transferred to Fort McCoy, where they’ll spend about five days demobilizing.

Some admitted they were happy to finally turn in their weapons.

“It’s breaking the yoke clean,” said Spc. Paul Hoerner of Dubuque. “I’ve carried it around for nearly two years.”

Now he’s ready to carry around his son Dominic.

“He’s going to be so big,” Hoerner said. “When I left he was 2 and now he’s 4. He’s going to be like a totally different child.”