RED HORSE Airmen return to family, friends

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Dillon White
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs Office
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Nearly 250 Malmstrom Airmen landed at the Great Falls International Airport at approximately 3 p.m. Oct. 11 after a six-month deployment to southwest Asia. 

The group was comprised of 223 members of the 819th RED HORSE Squadron, 14 members of the 341st Civil Engineer Squadron, and three members of the 341st Comptroller Contracting Squadron. 

As the Airmen stepped off the plane they were greeted by Col. Michael Fortney, 341st Missile Wing commander, and other members of wing leadership before boarding buses driven by Airmen from the 341st Logistic Readiness Squadron who brought them to Malmstrom. 

During the deployment, RED HORSE Airmen worked at more than 13 sites in three countries. Accomplishments included, but were not limited to, assisting with the responsible withdrawal of forces from cities in Iraq and the transfer of authority of the South from British control to U.S. control. 

RED HORSE Airmen built runways, drilled wells and provided other infrastructure for a surge of 21,000 troops into Afghanistan. The heavy construction unit also constructed a new hospital in Baghdad, freeing the existing hospital for use by the Iraqi people. 

Ramp space was also added to airfields at Kandahar and Bagram, increasing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms over the battlefield and providing additional firepower to troops on the ground, said Col. Terry Watkins, 819th RHS commander, who served as the 1st Expeditionary RED HORSE Group commander. 

"The mission's complete and everyone's home safe," Colonel Watkins said. "We had 580 personnel execute 113 projects. It's extremely rewarding and I'm proud of the teamwork they displayed." 

In a letter to the 1st ERHG the colonel wrote before the return home, he said, "As we depart for home, we look forward to seeing our friends and families to thank them for all they have endured while we were deployed." 

Among the Airmen boarding the buses for home to reunite with friends and family, several were first-time fathers who had yet to see their children in person. 

Senior Airman Joseph Allera, 819th RHS utilities technician, and his wife Jill discovered they were having a child the same day he left for pre-deployment training in March. His daughter, Victoria, was 27 days old Sunday. 

"I've been counting down the days since he left," Mrs. Allera said. "He's my hero." 

The two were able to speak nearly every day via a satellite phone and the two said they plan to spend time with Airman Allera's family, who drove more than 1,300 miles from Michigan to visit. The RED HORSE Airman said seeing his daughter in person for the first time was "breathtaking." 

Airman 1st Class Nicole Haynes, from the 341st Missile Wing command post, was waiting at building 1460, as well with 5-month-old Jacob to greet Airman 1st Class Marc Haynes, 819th RHS pavements and construction technician. 

Airman Haynes watched his son's birth at Benefis hospital via webcam, and the couple spoke about once a week, Airman Nicole Haynes said. 

"It will be a relief to have him home," she said. 

This was the fifth deployment Airmen from the 819th RHS have completed since Sept. 11.