South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is returning home to South Bend tonight. The mayor has been serving seven months with the US Navy Reserves in Afghanistan as a lieutenant assigned to a counterterrorism unit. He is scheduled to arrive at South Bend International Airport at 8:35 pm.
Members of the public can greet the mayor upon his arrival. A city spokesperson says that the public can gather at Concourse A. Mayor Buttigieg will give a brief statement after arriving.
“Mayor Buttigieg will spend the next week settling back into life in South Bend, connecting with family and friends, and visiting Naval Station Great Lakes to complete final administrative procedures to end his deployment,” the city said in an announcement.
Mayor Buttigieg will return to the mayor’s office on Monday, October 6, relieving Deputy Mayor Mark Neal, who has been presiding over the city’s executive branch during Buttigieg’s deployment.
“It has been an honor to work on behalf of the residents of South Bend,” Deputy Mayor Neal says. “I’m proud that we have maintained the administration’s momentum in Mayor Pete’s absence and I join all South Bend residents in thanking him for his service and welcoming him home.”
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