FORT DEVENS (CBS) – Early morning cheers rang out for 500 New England Marines returning home after spending months in Afghanistan.

On Friday, when the caravan of buses came into view at Fort Devens, their excitement boiled over.

The Marines from Middlesex and Worcester counties had been providing security near several U.S. outposts in Helmand Province.

The Marines from the 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Corps was originally slated to come back to the U.S. in April.

They were able to return home early as part of the gradual drawdown of American forces in Afghanistan.