MANCHESTER, N.H. — With bagpipes playing “America the Beautiful,” more than 1,000 people are gathered at Wiggins Airways Inc. this afternoon to welcome home the 94th Military Police Company, which includes about 45 soldiers from Saco.

“It will seem more real when he is here,” said Dani Campbell, who was waiting with family to welcome her husband, Spc. Ryan Campbell of Scarborough. A large American flag was stretched over the roadway, held up by two fire trucks, and people in the crowd held flowers and flags. “Welcome Home” was written on some of the parked cars nearby.

The unit has been training Iraqi police and also trained and mentored the first SWAT team in the country’s history.

Campbell’s mother, a school teacher, said she couldn’t wait to see her son.

“It’s been hard for me as a teacher to talk to my students of current events,” said Lynn Bonsey, of Bucksport. “It’s exciting that this whole troop is coming home safely.”

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch is among the officials who will welcome the unit home.

2:39 p.m.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — A crowd of family and friends has gathered at Wiggins Airways Inc. to welcome home the 94th Military Police Company.

Members of the company are expected to arrive by bus around 3 p.m. Troopers from each state along the way – from Fort Dix, N.J., to New Hampshire – will escort the buses along the route.

The unit was deployed last May. They arrived in Baghdad July 18, 2010, where they partnered with the 48,000 Iraqi police. During their deployment, they also trained and mentored the first SWAT team in the country’s history.