About 140 soldiers returned home to CFB Edmonton Thursday night after a nine-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of friends and family were on hand to greet the returning soldiers, who were part of Joint Task Force Afghanistan.

"It’s been a long time in coming," said Cpl. Dean Mandryk. "It's a bit like a dream right now, so it will take a while to absorb. So yeah, it's good to be back to see my kids and my wife."

Master Cpl. Jeff Birch said it hasn't been easy being away from his family.

"Being away from my two twin girls and my oldest son there — he's fifteen you know, and going through his teenage years and that — and the girls not wanting their daddy to 'go bye-bye,' in their words.

Another 80 soldiers to return next week

"So, yeah, it was a little tough, but you concentrate on the job, get it done and make sure you come back in one piece, so it's very satisfying that way."

Many of the soldiers were attached to the Multi-National Brigade Headquarters with Brigadier-General David Fraser, who was in charge of the NATO mission in six provinces for eight months, commanding about 9,500 troops, most of them British, Canadian and Dutch.

Fraser recently handed over south Afghanistan command to Maj.-Gen. Ton Van Loon of the Netherlands.

Fraser, along with another 80 Edmonton-based soldiers, are expected to return next week.