TOP STORY > >HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS Nearly 160 Airmen return to base Christmas Day

By Bob Oldham
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

Two-year-old Cassandra Guerra received perhaps the greatest Christmas present ever of her young life when her dad, Airman 1st Class Michael Guerra, a 53rd Airlift Squadron loadmaster, returned home Dec. 25 from a deployment in Iraq.

Airman Guerra was one of nearly 160 base Airmen who returned Christmas Day to nearly 200 friends, family, base leaders and co-workers who showed up early Christmas morning to welcome the mobility Airmen home.

“I told (Cassandra) that Santa called me and that (Daddy) was still coming, and he was going to bring presents,” Elisa Guerra said.

Asked if she was happy her daddy was coming home on Christmas Day, Cassandra replied, “Uh-huh.”

The Guerras have been assigned to the base three years, and this was his second deployment.

While the 53rd had the largest contingent of aircrews, it was augmented with aircrews from the 30th AS from Cheyenne, Wyo.; the 154th AS of the Arkansas Air National Guard here; the 50th and 61st AS here, and the 19th Operations Support Squadron.

Airmen were also deployed from the 19th Maintenance Group and the 19th Logistics Readiness Squadron, many of which were deployed to Balad Air Base, Iraq.

At Balad, Airmen flew nearly 630 combat missions, consisting of 3,740 flying hours. During the 2,624 combat sorties flown, crews hauled 45,700 passengers and nearly 4,100 tons of cargo, according to Lt. Col. Sean Bordenave, 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron commander. A mission could have several legs or sorties. A sortie is a takeoff and landing.

During the four-month stretch from mid-August to mid-December, the unit’s airlift operations reduced the need for 1,653 convoy vehicles to be on the road, significantly reducing the risk to American and coalition troops on the ground.

“These mobility warriors have done their nation’s bidding, and they’ve done it well,” said Col. Greg Otey, 19th Airlift Wing commander. “For the past four months they’ve proved their mettle in the heat of battle, much like a knight - Black Knight - from years past.”

While these Airmen returned home to their families at a special time of the year, about 600 base Airmen are still deployed to points all across the globe.