HAWAII ARMY NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS RETURN FROM AFGHANISTAN
For Immediate Release: Aug 10, 2011
HAWAII ARMY NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS RETURN FROM AFGHANISTAN
WHEELER ARMY AIR FIELD, HI- The main body of soldiers from the Hawaii Army National Guard’s Company B, 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment returned to Hawaii and greeted their families August 10, 2011at Wheeler Army Air Field (WAAF) after being deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The Soldiers were mobilized on active duty for the past year. They spent several months training at Fort Hood, Texas, before deploying in October of 2010, to Regional Commands (RC) South and East in Afghanistan, where they provided CH-47D helicopter lift support to the Combat Aviation Brigades.
About 120 of the Hawaii-based Soldiers returned via chartered aircraft that landed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam. They unloaded the plane, filed onto awaiting buses and were escorted by a veteran motorcycle club to WAAF. Their families started arriving hours earlier and were waiting to reunite with lei and signs galore. The soldiers turned some equipment in, receive administrative briefs, and were ready to have one last formation then be released to their families.
The unit, led by the commander, Cpt. Johnny Wandasan and 1st Sgt. James Burkhart, marched into view of their families for the first time in almost a year to the theme song from Rocky. The music was not a factor as the screaming crowd drowned it out with cheers of joy and thunderous applause.
The Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Darryll D.M. Wong, gave a short speech that highlighted some of the accomplishments of Company B, 1-171st Aviation Regiment. He then introduced Lieutenant Governor Brian Shatz who thanked the troops on behalf of the state of Hawaii and noted that his speech was standing in the way of 120 heroes and their family friends. He concluded his remarks immediately to the approval of the audience.
When the Army Song concluded, the unit was formally dismissed and the reunion with family and friends began. As the lei began to pile on the soldiers, the unit did something no one expected. Each unit member pulled out a black arm band embroidered with the name of the mission and crew members who recently were shot down in Afghanistan. The aviation unit that lost their CH-47 Chinook helicopter just replaced Bravo Company in Afghanistan.
Company B, 1-171st Aviation Regiment was mobilized in August of 2010 and deployed to Afghanistan two months later. The unit and its 12 CH-47D Chinook helicopters were split-based in four locations; Bagram Airfield, Forward Operating Base (FOB) Salerno (Khowst Province) and FOB Shank (Logar Province) in RC East and one group at Kandahar Airfield in RC South. The unit’s missions were in support of combat resupply, battlefield circulation, general support, and deliberate operations against the Taliban in support of various ground units. During a ten-month period they flew over 1,400 missions, 6,500 combat flight hours, transported over 7.5 million pounds of internal and external cargo and about 69,000 passengers.
###
For more information, contact:
Lt. Col. Charles Anthony
Public Affairs Officer
Phone: (808) 733-4258
