AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine National Guard troops returning from Afghanistan have been given a welcome-home ceremony in Augusta.

Guard officials say 173 soldiers from the 1136th Transportation Company arrived late Tuesday morning at the State Armory, where Gov. Paul LePage was among the hundreds to greet them.

Also among the greeters was Bev Morrison of Baileyville, who had an 18-pack of beer tied to a Welcome Home balloon waiting for her husband, Master Sgt. David Morrison. She said the frosty gift was a tradition.

The soldiers shipped out last March to Afghanistan, where they provided security for bases and convoys against Taliban and al-Qaida forces.

The 1136th Transportation Company is stationed in the Sanford, Bangor and Calais. In 2003, the unit deployed to Kuwait and Southern Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.