ADA Soldiers return home, reunite with friends and families

Photo By Kimberly Hackbarth | A Soldier with 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th ADA Brigade, is reunited with a family member at West Fort Hood Gym on Fort Hood, Texas, Sept. 13 during a homecoming ceremony. Soldiers of the battalion deployed to Kuwait for a year.  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

09.13.2014

Story by Sgt. Kimberly Hackbarth 

69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade

FORT HOOD, Texas – Approximately 500 Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th ADA Brigade returned home from a yearlong deployment to Kuwait during homecoming ceremonies Sept. 10, on Soldier Field and Sept.12 and 13 at West Fort Hood Gym.

The unit also uncased its colors during the homecoming ceremony on Sept. 13.

Sgt. Brian Betterly, a welder with Company F, 1st Bn., 44th ADA Regt., returned on the first flight and reunited with his wife Ashley, and his three daughters, Brooklyn and Bella, 4, and Brianna, 6.

The deployment was the third for Brian and his family. He previously deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 and Kuwait in 2011.

"Even though we've gone through it before, I still miss him just the same," Ashley admitted.

Attending school and taking care of her daughters helped keep Ashley's mind off the fact that her husband was nearly 8,000 miles away, she said.

Her advice to other spouses in the same situation is learn how to be self reliant, stay busy, and make new friends.

"Without a good support network, it would be kind of hard to get through (the deployment)," Ashley said.

During the year apart, the couple talked on Skype and on the phone and Ashley sent packages to Brian. The communication through video and phone conversations was necessary for Brian to know that the bond between him and his wife was still alive and well, he said.

Though Ashley found ways to cope with the distance, distractions weren't as easy for Brian, he said.

"I thought it would be a little easier this time because my girls were a little older, but it was tough," said Brian, adding that he noticed the effect his absence had on his children.

He said that since he's returned, there have been a lot of emotions in his house.

The first few night he was home, his daughters would run downstairs to hug him and make sure he was still there, he said.

Ashley said it melts her heart that her little girls scream excitedly every time Brian walks through the door.

"For me, I don't know my dad, so I don't know what it's like to have that (bond)," she said. "So, for my girls to have that makes me feel good."

Both Ashley and Brian helped out at the following homecoming ceremonies even though Brian had just returned days earlier.

Ashley said some of her friends had spouses returning home on the flights and that she would get emotional when she watched their reunions.

"It makes me happy for them and makes me think about that moment when (Brian) came home and the other times he came home," she said.

Brian said now that he's home, he's looking forward to doing the things he was unable to do while he was gone, including taking his daughter to school and spending a lot of time with his family.

• Date Taken: 09.13.2014
• Date Posted: 09.16.2014 12:32
• Story ID: 142290
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US