Hurlburt welcomes Air Commandos back home

The scene at the arrival area of any airport is usually one of happiness.

Families are reunited, brothers embrace sisters, old friends reunite. Hurlburt Field isn’t a typical airport with returning vacationers and those on holiday, and the men and women stepping off the plane on Aug. 31 weren’t simply travelers.

Operation Homecoming convened once again to welcome home airmen who were deployed across Iraq and Afghan- istan in support of the ongoing War on Terror. Most had been gone for three to four months and all were eager to greet their waiting friends and families.

As the uniformed airmen streamed off the plane and down the red carpet, the tension was palpable. Once the line of people got close to those waiting, applause and cheers erupted.

For more on this story, see the September 8 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.