Base sees some come home, some leave this week

Homecoming was a passionate affair for many of the troops and their families.

Within a span of three days, Mountain Home Air Force Base bid farewell to hundreds of its Airmen while welcoming home another 400 earlier this week.

On a cloudy Monday morning, approximately 300 Airmen representing aircrews with the 391st Fighter Squadron and aircraft maintenance teams with the 366th Maintenance Group left Mountain Home for Kunsan Air Base, South Korea.

As the base bid farewell to these Airmen, it paused to welcome home hundreds more following their deployments to bases in southwest Asia and the Republic of Korea.

More than 100 members of the 726th Air Control Squadron returned home Tuesday following a nearly six-month commitment in the Persian Gulf region. Another 300 Gunfighters representing the 389th FS flew back to the base on Wednesday following a five-month deployment to Kunsan.

During its time in the Persian Gulf region, the 726th ACS tackled a wide-spread mission focused on enemy surveillance and identification, weapons control, joint and combined data-link connectivity, and battle management of offensive and defensive air activities. Known by its people as the Hardrock, the squadron monitored airspace over the battlefield to provide military leaders with a clear, accurate "picture" of the region. Their efforts allowed military planners to make informed, real-time decisions regarding current combat operations in the region.

Known for its extremely high operations tempo, the 726th ACS has deployed over the last five consecutive years in support of the Global War on Terror.

Meanwhile, the base's fighter squadrons and support elements continue facing a similar deployment strain. The 389th FS' deployment to Korea last summer required the base to accelerate its scheduled deployment cycle by roughly five months. This allowed other U.S. service branches to commit necessary forces to support combat operations in southwest Asia, said Col. John Bird, 366th Fighter Wing commander, in an earlier interview.

The base's back-to-back deployments to Kunsan, located approximately 150 miles south of Seoul, comes on the heels of recent statements from the North Korean government. These messages from the communist state created a "very tense situation" on the Korean peninsula, Bird said. He called the statements the "worst rhetoric" seen from North Korea in approximately 20 years.

Since Operation Desert Storm, the base remains in a constant deployment readiness posture with many of its people deployed to bases and forward operating locations around the world at any given time.