Bronco Brigade Soldiers receive a welcome home from Pacific Pathways

Photo By Staff Sgt. Armando Limon | Spc. Justin Lowery reunites with his over-eager dog, Dakota, after redeploying from Pacific Pathways at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, on Sept. 23, 2015. Lowery is a mortar man with C Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Armando R. Limon, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division)  

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI, UNITED STATES

09.23.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Armando Limon 

3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii - Families eagerly welcomed home loved ones as about 400 Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, returned home from Pacific Pathways, here, Sept. 21-23.

One of the Soldiers returning home was Sgt. Matthew Compton, infantryman team leader, Company C, 2nd Battalion 27 Infantry Regiment, who gave his wife, Tanisha, and daughter, Ellie Mae, a warm hug.

For Compton, exercises in three different countries was a unique experience.

“We’ve trained with different forces with Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia,” he said. “I learned their TTPs (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures) and a little bit more on the operations, and culture.”

He learned the strengths and weaknesses of his unit during Australia for Exercise Hamel, followed by Garuda Shield in Indonesia, and Keris Strike in Malaysia during the three-month-long deployment, with one of particular country being his favorite.

“Indonesia, because we worked with them the most and their training was pretty good,” he said. “It taught us what we really do need to work on and what our weaknesses are.”

A challenge sometimes forgotten is the trials a spouse at home faces when their Soldier is deployed.

“With a 3-year-old girl it was pretty difficult,” Tanisha said. “She always asked about her father and where he was. So we would look at a map of Australia or Indonesia.”

Another family member, a furry type, was overly eager to be in the arms of Spc. Justin Lowery, an indirect fire specialist with C Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Regiment. Dakota, a small black dog of 3 years, couldn’t cease licking Lowery’s face as his wife, Heather, smiled on at the spectacle.

Afterward, Lowery went on to describe his time and training on Pacific Pathways as generally positive even with the difficulties of terrain and weather.

“In Australia we actually got to integrate a little with the Australian mortars,” he said. “In Indonesia we got attached to platoons and did support by fire. In Malaysia we really didn’t get utilized, because the jungle was too thick.”

Col. Scott W. Kelly, commander, 3rd BCT, led the second echelon of Soldiers home, on Sept. 23, saw how excited all of the Bronco Soldiers were to finally be home from their deployment.

“Many are not used to being a way for that long, certainly families aren’t as well, but that experience and understanding now that they have for the impact from the deployment personally from their families is valuable going forward,” Kelly said.

In the end, the 3BCT commander was rather proud of the brigade’s accomplishments.

“The amount of training we got in just this short period of time has been phenomenal,” he said. “It has really improved the brigade.”

• Date Taken: 09.23.2015
• Date Posted: 10.01.2015 19:17
• Story ID: 177808
• Location: SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI, US