Delaware National Guard - DNG News 2003 - Army & Air National Guard

All eight Services members after they arrived July 31 in the United States upon successfully finishing their four months overseas mission. L to R: Senior Airman Shemekia Mceachron, Senior Airman Kevin Leamy, Tech. Sgt. Stephanie Newman, Master Sgt. Phillip Brokenbough, Master Sgt. Joe Bradley, Senior Airman Latroy Mitchell, Master Sgt. Robert Yuninger and Senior Airman Tracy Ashman. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Ben Matwey.

Glad to be home after four and a half months overseas supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in Southwest Asia, eight airmen from the 166^th Airlift Wing landed at Baltimore-Washington International Airport nearly midnight Thursday, July 31.

A half-dozen NCOs and officers from our home base, including Vice Wing Commander, Col. Dan Van Wyk, and Services Commander, Maj. Mark Heck, were on hand to greet the troops as they stepped onto American soil.

The returning airmen worked with active duty airmen from Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., and air guard units from New Orleans, La., and Peoria, Ill., to form a Services Unit which supported the Air Force's 486^th Air Expeditionary Wing at a forward deployed air base in the Southwest Asia theater of operations.

Three members reunited with family and friends at the airport, going back home with their loved homes. The other five airmen took a bus back to home station in New Castle, arriving nearly 2:00 a.m., eating submarine sandwiches and cold drinks on the ride, laughing and talking, but also tired and wanting to reunite with family.

The eight returning members included Pa. residents Master Sgt. Joe Bradley, NCOIC, from West Chester, and Master Sgt. Robert Yuninger, from Coatsville, who worked in the storeroom.

The Del. residents were Tech. Sgt. Stephanie Newman, from Newark, who worked in lodging, Senior Airman Latroy Mitchell, from Newark, who worked in the recreation center and dining facility, Master Sgt. Phillip Brokenbough, from New Castle, who worked in the fitness center and was the meal shift leader, and Senior Airmen Tracy Ashman and Kevin Leamy, both from Wilmington, who both worked in the recreation center and dining facility.

There was one New York resident, Senior Airman Shemekia Mceachron, from the Bronx.

"I am just happy it's over. It was a great experience. I never expected it. I never thought it would be me there, on a bare bones base, setting it up four and a half months ago," said Mceachron. Her sister Kemeshia, a friend and her son, and her boyfriend met Mceachron at BWI airport.

Her sister and a good friend hug Senior Airman Shemekia Mceachron upon her arrival at BWI airport. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Ben Matwey.

"Thank God she's home safe and sound," said Chester Scott, Jr., fiancé of Tech. Sgt. Stephanie Newman. "That was a long 139 days! Thank God for phone calls and e-mail to keep in contact. I could never do what she did. I just can't believe what all of you in the military go through."

Leamy said, "It was long. I'm going to stand outside in the rain next time it comes. We haven't seen rain in three months."

Thoughts of their own beds in a home with a hard roof must have been on their mind, instead of the tents they have lived in on desert sand since March. The members deployed from Delaware March 17, and were in theater March 18. The war started the evening of the next day.

The desert unit had no access to e-mail or phones when the war began and for days after, and only rumors and sketchy information came their way. "We were so in the dark about things, it was hard to even think about it [the war]," said Brokenbough.

On their first day, the members faced a bare base operation that had been nothing but an expanse of sand with no people or equipment or facilities just a few days before. Bradley, their NCOIC, said, "Some of us had to build our own tents, flooring and doors. We spent a lot of time building the 'reefer' (refrigerator) units, which came in just like IKEA furniture, but much bigger."

Summing up the first week, Bradley said, "It was hell. There was nothing here."

"For the first three weeks, we all worked seven days a week, 12 to 18 hours a day."

Things improved slightly over time.

"In the fourth week, we were working 10 hour days, with one day a week off. We settled into our assignments," said Bradley.

Bradley said that for the first few weeks, "All we did was food, laundry and more laundry. For the first six or seven weeks we were not allowed to go off base. Then, we started to organize morale trips." Bradley led groups into town almost every night for the last couple months of the mission. What was the highlight? "The best thing we did was bringing in the Washington Redskins [football team] cheerleaders. Everyone liked that," said Bradley.

Speaking of the Del. Air Guard airmen, Bradley said, "They were motivated. What they didn't know they picked up quick. They'd look at an operation, and if they saw an adjustment was needed, they made it. They never once complained. They took initiative. I'm real proud of them."

Bradley pointed out that two of the members, Yuninger and Brokenbough were selected for Senior NCO of the Month awards for the overall Services squadron.

Services gave out cold meals-ready-to-eat for a few days, then transitioned to one or two hot meals a day, then after a couple weeks hot meals every day for the base members. Their kitchen was slightly unusual. "It was a couple trailers they slapped together," said Yuninger. "The cold water was hotter than the hot water when you turned on the faucet."

The base served four meals a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a midnight meal, plus flight meals for aircrew. "I had the early shift. I was in bed 7:30 or 8:00 p.m.," said Brokenbough. "I started work at 4:00 a.m. to serve breakfast 5:00 a.m. to 8: 00 a.m.

Mitchell said the biggest challenge and success for her was when the base laundry changed contractors mid-April. "We made sure everything transitioned well with the new system," said Mitchell.

There was eventually some time to relax for the airmen

Mitchell said, "After six or seven weeks, we could do shopping one day a week. We could get on a bus, or get a ride into town somehow."

"It took one and a half months to get a gym set up," said Mitchell. "It was OK, we had cardio room and a weight room, leg press, a setup machine, and some sort of universal machine." Added Brokenbough, "We also had a treadmill, and free weights."

"Our longest Services deployment previously together was three weeks two years ago to Eskan Village, Saudi Arabia. But this was the longest deployment ever for us," said Bradley.

Their mission included a few lighthearted moments and humor regarding the heat, as well as some touching moments.

"They had bulletin boards, and there was a list someone started, and people added to it. It started, 'You know you've been at [their base unnamed]…" and one response was '…when your shower water is hot and hotter,'" said Brokenbough.

It wasn't just the water that was hot. The outside air temperature was high.

"I carried a meat thermometer with me, and I'd take it outside, and it would read 140 degrees at least," said Brokenbough.

The Americans shared the base with smaller units of Dutch, British, Australian and Canadian forces, and our northern neighbors had some fun with their fellow airmen.

"The Canadians placed a rubber snake on the ground at the entrance to their compound. I jumped three feet in the air when I first saw it, said Brokenbough."

Brokenbough described how on July 4, there was a memorial service in a dining tent. "People got up and talked about the purpose of our being over there," said Brokenbough. "One security forces guy from another unit on our base was killed in action. There were some words spoken about that and some prayers. It was emotional for a lot of people."

Chester Scott, Jr., fiancé of Tech. Sgt. Stephanie Newman, waits patiently for her arrival at BWI airport July 31. In the wall in front of him is The Freedom Shrine, a collection of historic documents with the background painting of "The Bombardment of Fort. McHenry," the scene which inspired the writing of our National Anthem. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Ben Matwey.