Missi Barrett knows exactly how much time is left until her husband will step off a bus in Bend, stand at attention for a ceremony marking the end of his deployment to Iraq and finally search out his family in the crowd and hug them for the first time in six months.

She’s been counting down the days and hours since her husband deployed with the Oregon National Guard’s 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team last spring. And on Wednesday morning, she hit a major milestone: double digits.

“It’s 98 hours,” she said. “I’ve been counting down since he left, so when it starts out at thousands of hours, 98 hours sounds really good.”

On Sunday, Lt. David Barrett will be one of more than 300 soldiers with the 41st Brigade’s 1st Squadron, 82nd Cavalry, who will arrive in Bend for a ceremony at Vince Genna Stadium. After about a week at Ft. Lewis, in Washington, it will be the first of four demobilization events across the state as the Oregon Guard’s largest deployment since World War II — involving about 2,700 soldiers — comes to an end.

In Central Oregon, which is home to about 110 soldiers with the Bend unit and a handful of others who serve with other Oregon units, families, employers and service providers are gearing up for the troops’ homecoming. They’re painting homemade signs, making travel plans and preparing to help the soldiers transition back into their civilian jobs and lives.

For families, the lead-up to the soldiers’ return is a busy, often unpredictable time. Until just a few days ago, family members and the soldiers themselves weren’t sure exactly when they’d be back in Oregon.

“It was quite frustrating in the beginning,” said Tia Dougall, of Redmond, who is married to Staff Sgt. Dan Dougall. “I know my husband’s route and obligations changed six times before he left Iraq.”

This week, Dougall said she’s busy getting the house ready for her husband’s return. She’s also ordered sweatshirts for her children to wear at Sunday’s ceremony that read: “Proud Son of Staff Sgt. Dan Dougall.”

Adena Glassow, who lives near Sunriver, said she and her 2-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son have been keeping close watch on their calendar as they prepare for the return of her husband, Cpl. Marcus Glassow.

“My son already told him a list of things to do,” she said. “He says, ‘When daddy gets home, we’re going to go fishing and go to the movie theater.’”

Several families said they’re planning to take it easy for a few weeks after the soldiers come back, either by relaxing at home or taking a family vacation.

The soldiers are expected to report to the armory the day after the ceremony, but most will have a month or two off before they are required to return to their regular training schedule, said Maj. Scot Caughran.

Once they get settled in at home, he said many of the troops will be looking for work.

“It’s a really big concern for us,” Caughran said. “A lot of people left their jobs in order to be able to deploy, and now we’re looking at over 50 percent of the soldiers coming back to no full-time work.”

Guard reaches out

The Guard is organizing job fairs and reaching out to local employers to let them know soldiers will be looking for work.

Roy Morris, the disabled veterans’ outreach program specialist with the Oregon Employment Department, said he’s expecting his workload to jump over the next several months. A big part of the job, he said, is showing soldiers how to translate what they did and learned in a combat zone to people hiring for jobs in the civilian world.

“A lot of the soldiers, when they get back, they assume, they don’t have any transferable skills,” Morris said. “But we try to get them to think along the lines of what they did …. and help them realize they have marketable skills and outline those.”

For some new veterans, problems readjusting to family life or mental health issues can make finding and holding a job difficult. Morris said he’s pleased the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is opening a facility in Bend that will offer counseling and other services.

“We don’t try to just address one barrier,” he said. “We’ve found that all the barriers they’re facing need to be addressed. They may have emotional problems, family problems, substance abuse … If we can address all the barriers, and get them the support system they need, they stand a better chance.”

Caughran said the Guard will be following up with each soldier to make sure he or she is finding the right services, from counseling to scholarships for those who want to attend college. Each soldier will be required to attend “reintegration events” held one, two and three months after returning home.

“There’s almost a monthly event for the next several months that will allow them to come back together, talk about their deployment experiences,” he said.

Families will also be invited to the reintegration events, he said.

‘Just be supportive’

Charity Smith, whose husband, Staff Sgt. Tommy Smith, will be returning on Sunday, said the homecoming can be just as much of an adjustment for spouses and families as it is for the soldiers.

Smith has been through the process before, when her husband returned home from a previous deployment to Iraq in 2005.

She said it can take some time for spouses to adjust to not having to do everything alone.

“Just be supportive and patient, and just don’t let the little things bother you,” she said. “Look at the big picture, how nice it is having your spouse home, instead of nitpicking the little things.”

Barrett, who lives in Brownsville and will make the trip to Bend on Sunday to see her husband come home, said she’s thrilled — but dreading the thought of having to sit through the ceremony before she can be reunited.

“We have a 14-year-old son and this has been hard on him, having his dad gone,” she said. “We’ll give them time to be together, because that’s the most important thing — just being together.”

If you go

Sunday’s demobilization ceremony for the Oregon National Guard’s 1st Squadron, 82nd Cavalry, of the 41st Infantry Brigade is open to the public and will be held at 1 p.m. at Vince Genna Stadium, at 401 S.E. Roosevelt St., in Bend. Buses carrying the soldiers from Ft. Lewis, Wash., are expected to pass through Sisters between 11:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. and through downtown Bend between 11:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Some residents are encouraging people to line the streets and show signs in support.