Delaware welcomes home Air National Guard members

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Katherine Miller
  • 166th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

More than 200 Citizen Airmen assigned to the 166th Airlift Wing were welcomed home from deployment during a homecoming ceremony at the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del., Feb. 10, 2019.

Friends, family and fellow Airmen gathered to thank the deployers for their service and sacrifice. All Airmen who had been deployed during 2018 were invited to be recognized.

These Citizen Airmen from 10 different units in the 166th Airlift Wing were mobilized to multiple areas in Southwest Asia and throughout the globe and returned to Delaware by the end of 2018.

Nearly 20 percent of the entire wing deployed at some point throughout the year.

Pilots, maintainers, civil engineers, logisticians, security forces, flight nurses and finance personnel are among the many career fields of the Airmen who deployed.

In addition to family, friends and other Airmen, Governor John Carney, the Adjutant General, Air Force Maj. Gen. Carol Timmons, the senior senator from the state, Tom Carper and wing commander, Col. Lynn Robinson were in attendance for the event.

“You provide us with the shield of protection that’s so incredible to each and every one of us,” said Carney. “So as you come back to the great state of Delaware, in the home of the Delaware fighting blue hens, welcome and thank you for your great work.”

Over the course of the deployments, the units accomplished many things, such as:

-        142nd Airlift Squadron and 166th Operations Support Squadron flew over 1,800 flights and carried nearly 10 million pounds of cargo.

-        142nd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron members flew over 180 medivac missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, including 65 combat injury medivacs.

-        The 166th Maintenance Group prepared aircraft for over 3,200 flying hours in the Central Command area of responsibility.

-        The 166th Logistics Readiness Squadron processed over 4,000 passengers and loaded over 1,000 tons of aircraft cargo.

“Congratulations on a job well done, and most importantly, mission complete,” said Timmons.