Operation Allies Welcome at Camp Atterbury to end this week

INDIANA (WFIE) - Governor Eric Holcomb attended a briefing to mark the end of Operation Allies Welcome at Camp Atterbury Monday morning.

Back in September 2021, Afghan refugees began arriving at Indiana National Guard’s Camp Atterbury to await resettlement.

At Monday’s event, the federal coordinator for Operation Allies Home, Aaron Batt, says they have had 7,201 Afghan guests at Camp Atterbury since the beginning of Operation Allies Welcome.

He says they have helped resettle thousands of them into communities around the United States. Officials say refugees from Camp Atterbury have been resettled in 45 different states.

Officials say as soon as they arrived at Camp Atterbury, authorities began providing a safe and healthy environment for their guests.

They say they also provided vaccines for several viruses, including COVID-19, for all guests at the camp. They also provided weekly COVID testing for Afghan guests.

Batt said they received more than 2.6 million donated items just at Camp Atterbury, which included things like personal hygiene products, diapers, winter clothes, shoes, jackets and personal items.

Batt said that after Monday, Camp Atterbury will have less than 15 Afghan evacuees and they anticipate most of them will be departing sometime this week.

With that, he says this week will conclude the federal support of Operation Allies Welcome.

You can watch that full briefing below.