Joint Base Charleston
Patriot Vol. 1, No. 7
Team Charleston – One Family, One Mission, One Fight!
Friday, November 12, 2010
U.S. Air Force photos/Senior Airman Timothy Taylor
INSIDE VETERANS DAY
Staff Sgt. Michael Barker and his daughter Julia hug after being reunited from his deployment to the Middle East Nov. 7, 2010 on Joint Base Charleston, S.C. More than 130 Airmen from the 15th Airlift Squadron returned home after a four-month deployment to the Middle East. While deployed, the Airmen flew roughly 3,500 sorties and airlifted more than 125 million pounds of cargo throughout the area of responsibility. Sergeant Barker is an instructor loadmaster with the 15th Airlift Squadron.
15 AS returns to families, friends after 4-month deployment By Staff Sgt. Daniel Bowles Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs
Joint Base Airmen and Sailors on parade See page 5
WARRIOR RIDE Wounded veterans lead 5K run See page 8
FIRST SHIRTS
First sergeants tell it like it is See page 14
DRUG ABUSE Prescription misuse can damage your career See page 20
At approximately 3:26 p.m. Nov. 7, a commercial airliner returning from overseas touched down at Joint Base Charleston-Air Base with more than 130 Airmen on board from the 15th Airlift Squadron. Their deployment had scattered squadron personnel throughout the Middle East and Eurasia, supporting overseas contingency operations. They were recently relieved by members of the 16th Airlift Squadron, who will continue the ongoing airlift support. Now, as Palmetto trees and southern, green pines replaced desert sand and heat, the men and women known as the Global Eagles were home mission complete. Wheels down and excitement stirring among the families waiting on the ground, the taxiing aircraft slowly approached. With the plane in sight, fingertips jittered across phone keys, announcing via text message that the "Eagles" had landed. Others held out for a more face-to-face "transmission." The jet stopped just shy of the crowd who stared at the door of the plane, waiting for the boarding ladder to close the gap separating them from those onboard. "Take a picture of them opening the door!" came a voice from the crowd. "Look, here they
come!" exclaimed another. Children in mini flight suits, too young to talk, observed the commotion from their perches atop parents' shoulders. As the door opened, the crowd erupted in cheers with eyes fixed forward in search for that special someone - mommy or daddy, son or daughter, wife or husband. A loved one whom a day before was half a world away. It's the part about military service that can be hardest, but Margie Riddell, wife of 1st Lt. Lane Riddell, said she is behind her husband all the way and prepared a special welcome home dinner. "My husband's request for when he got home was a steak, a twice-baked potato and a [bottle of] Boulevard Wheat ... it's in the fridge waiting." Lieutenant Riddell served eight years previously in the Marine Corps aboard C-130s as a navigator. After being accepted into an Air Force scholarship program, he has since become a pilot with the 15 AS. "He's very focused," she said. "It's one of the things I love most about him." For four months, her husband and his fellow Airmen in the 15 AS operated in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility as the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. The squadron operated nearly a dozen aircraft, flying thousands of missions and moving more than 100 million See 15 AS Returns, Page 3
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Airmen from the 15th Airlift Squadron point and wave to friends and loved ones after arriving from a 20-hour flight home Nov. 7, 2010 on Joint Base Charleston, S.C.
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