LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Virginia –
“They’re at the gate!”
The call goes out from a waiting spouse at 1:30 a.m. March 19, and the other wives, husbands, sons, daughters and well wishers waiting at Herron Hall send up a cheer.
After seven months guarding the most dangerous detainees in Iraq, 37 members of the 1st Security Forces Squadron were almost home.
The crowd hushed as two buses pulled into the parking lot. The lead bus honked and, as if that was the signal, the crowd went wild.
“I wrote him every day,” said Kitty Ring, wife of Tech. Sgt. Sean Ring. “We’d talk online too. He’d have to get off at 1 a.m. and get to the e-mail at 4 a.m. for us to talk.”
The 1st SFS members were part of the 886th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at Camp Bucca, Iraq, under the command of Lt. Col. David Lynch, 1st SFS commander.
“The 1st SFS performed a tremendous job with distinction,” he said. “The compound they ran had the most dangerous extremists and other special security detainees. They regularly had to deal with detainee uprisings.”
The security forces members provided security for a part of Camp Bucca, known as Compound 10.
“We had the worst of the worst,” said Tech. Sgt. Stephen Springer, compound shift leader, “with less-than-lethal capabilities.”
Those capabilities included pepper spray and tasers, said Sergeant Springer.
The security forces members had the opportunity to learn from being in a joint environment.
“It was a new experience working with the Army,” said Tech. Sgt. Robert Byrnes. “Especially, as we’re expanding the security forces to take on detainee operations.”
For some, the homecoming was bittersweet. Senior Airman Joann Gamache got a chance to hold her daughter for the first time in seven months, but her husband deployed March 18 to the camp she left behind.
“He left the same day,” she said, holding her daughter and wiping tears from her eyes.
Although being apart from loved ones is hard, those assembled at Herron Hall said they support their service members no matter what.
“I support him 100 percent,” said Mrs. Ring. “Whether it’s six months or six years, but it’s difficult sometimes.”