BATON ROUGE, La. — After a year-long deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Soldiers from the Louisiana Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 244th Aviation Regiment returned home to reunite with loved-ones at Louisiana Aircraft, LLC near the Baton Rouge Airport.
The first group of Soldiers arrived on March 31.
Today, the remaining 260 Guardsmen, based at the Northshore Regional Airport in Hammond, La., were greeted by Governor Bobby Jindal, Maj. Gen. Bennett C. Landreneau, the adjutant general, and other local officials as they stepped off the plane only to a crowd of cheering family and friends.
"It gives me great pleasure to welcome home these fine men and women that have served their state and country with great pride and dignity," said Landreneau. "As a Soldier, I can personally understand the sacrifices that they have made throughout this past year, and I commend them for accomplishing their mission," added the two-star general.
While Jindal and Landreneau greeted each Guardsman and praised them for their great service, family and friends waited anxiously to shower their loved-ones with hugs and kisses.
"When I first saw my husband step off the plane, an abundance of emotions ran through me," said Krista Cardin, wife of Spc. James M. Cardin. "I could not wait to give him the biggest hug of his life," said the West Monroe, La., native.
Spending time away from family and friends allowed the Guardsmen to focus more on their jobs and rely heavily on fellow unit members.
"Having awesome battle buddies made the deployment bearable," said Pfc. Jerica F. Gros of Terrytown, La. "Besides working hard to perform their duties, everyone looked out for each other's well-being."
"I could not have asked for a better group to deploy with", she added.
While deployed, the 1-244th conducted air movement and air assault operations in support of Multi-National Corps Iraq while being assigned to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade and subsequently the 34th Combat Aviation Brigade. The 1-244th conducted air assault operations in direct support of Special Operations and other coalition forces to capture and eradicate al-Qaida in Iraq.
"Over the course of nine and a half months, we flew about 16,000 hours, pumped approximately three million gallons of fuel and our maintenance rate was over 85 percent," said New Orleans native Command Sgt. Maj. Myron J. Creecy, 1-244th senior enlisted advisor.
"As a traditional Guard unit, it would have normally taken us almost 10 years to do the work that was completed in about 10 months of active duty," he added. "I am extremely proud of this group of Soldiers."