WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES PHOTOS / Justin Sorensen Family and friends were on hand Tuesday morning, Oct. 14, 2008, to welcome home 168 soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, who served in Kirkuk, Iraq during a 15-month deployment. The entire brigade, a total of 3,500 soldiers, is expected to be back in the north country by Thanksgiving. While in Iraq, the brigade served in the northern section of the country. They aided in a 70 percent decrease in violence, trained 5,000 Iraqi Security Forces, captured 33 high value targets and even found time to play soccer with the local population.