C-130s and Airmen Return from Afghanistan

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Mark Moss
  • 133rd AW Public Affairs
St. Paul --  The Minnesota Air National Guard saw the last of its C-130 "Hercules" aircraft touch down at the Minneapolis, St. Paul International Airport on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009, marking the end of a six-month deployment cycle to Afghanistan.

The aircraft today had 29 Airmen aboard and another C-130 last week brought 23 aircrew members and maintenance workers home. This return marks the end of the aviation support to the Operation Enduring Freedom rotation by the 133rd Airlift Wing for this cycle. The Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) cycle that began with our first C-130 deployment in August 2008 has come to a close with the arrival of today's mission. We supported three packages of two aircraft each on 45-day rotations from August 2008 through January 2009.

The 133rd AW still has over 50 Airmen who are in other support jobs such as communications and logistics in Southwest Asia supporting the mission. They are scheduled to return by mid-February.