Some 300 soldiers from two Indiana National Guard units have returned after yearlong deployments to Iraq.

Loud cheers erupted from a crowd as 170 members of the 384th Military Police Company marched into a Stout Field hangar behind a man dressed as Santa Claus just after 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. The return of the unit based in Bloomington and Evansville was delayed by the East Coast snowstorm.

A similar scene greeted 130 soldiers from the Brazil-based 138th Quartermaster Company as they met family members Monday night. Unit member Greg Abney of Greenwood said the best Christmas gift was being reunited with his wife and two children.

Nearly 100 members of a Shelbyville-based aviation unit also are scheduled to return Tuesday from deployment to Iraq.