McChord Reservists return home from Afghanistan deployments

by Airman 1st Class Madelyn McCullough
446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

2/27/2013 - MCCHORD FIELD, Wash. -- About 60 Citizen Airmen from the 86th Aerial Port Squadron here are scheduled to come home from a six-month deployment from various locations in Southwest Asia and Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

A group of about 20 Reservists are scheduled to arrive at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Feb. 28 to be greeted by their friends, family members, and other supporters including the 86th APS commander, Maj. Tony Edwards.

By the end of December 2012, the group had already managed to support the movement of more than 100,000 passengers and nearly 70,000 pounds of cargo on almost 7,500 missions. This deployment had a mixture of both new and experienced Reservists who worked at a busy Kandahar, Afghanistan terminal to support their war-fighting counterparts, Edwards, a two-time Bronze Star recipient, said. It gave them the opportunity to be mission ready.

The reservists are returning to their Pacific Northwest homes including Auburn, Bothell, Kent, Oak Harbor, Spanaway, Spokane, Tacoma, and Vancouver.

Even with the busy and continuous schedule, the reservists managed accomplish other mission-essential training. Training ranged from career-efficiency and promotion training, to finishing Community College of the Air Force classes to earn Associate's Degrees.

"I'm proud they were able to directly support the war fighters by bringing them the equipment and supplies they needed as well as moving them where they needed to be," Edwards, a local State Farm agent, said. "It's good to have (the Airmen) home after a long, hard six months of continuous labor so they can be with their friends and families again."