Dyess troops return home
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DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (USTCNS) --- After almost a four-month deployment supporting the Aerospace Expeditionary Force and Operation Enduring Freedom, nearly 200 members of the 317th Airlift Group and the 7th Bomb Wing returned home March 18.
The 12-ship formation landing at Dyess brought home the majority of the 317th's deployed airmen. Another 100 members had arrived aboard a commercial airliner March 12. About 400 people deployed with the group in November in support of the operations.
"When we left, we planned as if we would be there for over 180 days, so we were really prepared," said Col. John Tappan, 317th AG commander. "Everyone did a great job over there."
The group supported a variety of missions while deployed in support of OEF.
Tappan said the airlifters flew almost a year's worth of flying during the deployment. Normally the group flies about 8,000 hours annually. In 100 days of the deployment, the group flew 6,000 hours.
The airlifters first arrived in the continental United States Friday evening at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Mass. As the planes continued to come in throughout Saturday and Sunday, the airlifters began gearing up to return home Monday in a 12-ship formation.
"I am just happy to get home and see my family," said Airman 1st Class Greg Black, 40th Airlift Squadron crew chief while he waited at Westover ARB for the final leg of the trip home. "It's good to be home in the United States, but we're not all the way there yet."
"I have been on many deployments, but the feeling you get when you want to see your family is the same for everyone. I am feeling the same thing inside that my youngest airman is feeling," said Lt. Col. Terry Johnson, 40th Airlift Squadron commander.
"I was glad I was able to be sent on this mission," said 1st Lt. Angel Santiago, 39th Airlift Squadron pilot. "It is the kind of thing many military members dream about when they sign up to serve their country."
Once on the ground at Dyess, the Herks all performed a "Thunderbirds stop," where all the C-130s would sit on the ramp with engines running until the last plane came in.
"The mission was a little more difficult than we thought it would be," Tappan said. "However, our people are well trained and were able to perform their jobs perfectly."
(FROM AIR MOBILITY COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
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