Nine months after leaving for Afghanistan, about 165 soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team returned on Saturday to Fort Carson.

It was the end to the first phase of a push to use small teams of specially-trained soldiers to better mentor and advise Afghan units on the finer points of national security.

“We were the first guys doing it … and what it ended up providing was just a much greater level of detail of understanding,” said Col. Michael Kasales, the brigade’s commander.

The brigade was one of five in the Army that sent much of its top brass to Afghanistan for the mission. The remainder of the 300 officers and sergeants who deployed were expected to return late Saturday night in another homecoming ceremony that will also feature soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team and the 110th Military Police Company.

The work to train Afghans using small teams of Fort carson troops is part of the latest effort by the Army to ensure that Afghan forces can watch after their country by the end of 2014, when most coalition forces are due to leave.

Check back to gazettedev.gazette.com for more information.

Capt. Chris Lapinsky holds his daughter upon returning from Afghanistan early Saturday morning. The girl was two weeks old when Lapinsky deployed with the 3rd Brigade’s 1st Battalion of the 68th Armor Regiment. Photo by Jakob Rodgers / The Gazette

Soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team saluted during the national anthem. About 165 soldiers with the brigade returned early Saturday morning to Fort Carson after spending nine months in Afghanistan mentoring and advising Afgha Photo by Jakob Rodgers / The Gazette

A soldier from the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team rushes to his family after returning from a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan. About 300 officers and sergeants with the brigade were sent on the mission. Photo by Jakob Rodgers / The Gazette