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Fairchild Airmen reunite with family after deployment

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kristian Carter
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Applause and cheers, hugs and tears of joy. This is what awaited 44 returning warriors as they walked off of a KC-135 to be greeted by a crowd of more than 100 military family members, fellow Airmen and local media crews here April 30.

After the welcome on the ramp next to the plane, the families and redeployers were driven back to the Airmen's Center of Excellence for inprocessing.

By having the families and friends greet the redeployers at the plane, Fairchild is making the reunion a special time.

"Taking the extra time to ensure that first meeting is not filled with distraction or added stress is very important," said Lt. Col. Michael Gaal, 92nd Operations Support Squadron commander. "Deploying and redeploying is an experience you will remember all of your life. Fairchild has a robust reintegration process through our Expeditionary Airmen's Center of Excellence."

The Expeditionary Airmen's Center of Excellence is a one-stop-shop focused on meeting the redeployer's inprocessing needs all in the same facility, he said.

The majority of the redeployers returned from Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan. Most of them are maintainers and operations Airmen.

While the redeployers received briefings and a personal thank you from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing's vice commander, Col. Roger Watkins, their families waited in the Hall of Heroes. This area was designed to provide a comfortable area for families with children to wait while the returning servicemembers process back into the base's organizations.

The redeployers and families then received a few additional briefings about what to expect during the reunion phase and tips on how to help make the process a little smoother.

"Briefings and discussions are provided to the redeployers prior to heading home and immediately upon their return," said Colonel Gaal. "I personally found the literature handed out at the Center of Excellence to be very beneficial to understand the needs and expectations of the family I left behind when I deployed."

After these Airmen finished the briefings and required checklists, they were released to start their compensatory time off of work to renew the bonds with their families.

"This time period is designed to allow the member to readjust their body's clock from the time zone crossings, and a chance to assume their normal roles in their families," said Colonel Gaal.