Ohio National Guard News

Airmen return from Air Expeditionary Force deployment

Photos by Master Sgt. Beth Holliker, Ohio National Guard

180th Fighter Wing Airmen returning from deployment, walk off a Boeing B777 on the flight line of the 180th FW, Toledo, Ohio.

About 200 Airmen from the 180th Fighter Wing returned July 14, 2013, to Toledo, Ohio, from an Air Expeditionary Force deployment lasting for just over two months. The 180th FW initially deployed to Djibouti, Africa in support of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa to conduct stability operations in the area. At the end of June, members of the AEF were forward deployed to Shaheed Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan, as part of Exercise Eager Lion, a recurring, multinational exercise designed to strengthen military-to-military relationships and enhance regional security and stability.

Family of deployed Airmen wait on the flight line for their loved ones to land at the 180th Fighter Wing.
Sandy Bauman, waits to see her son, Tech. Sgt. Dustin Bauman, for the first time in over two months. Bauman, a fuel shop technician along with about 200 other 180th Fighter Wing members returned from an Air Expeditionary Force deployment. Family of deployed Airmen wait on the flight line for their loved ones to land at the 180th Fighter Wing.
SSgt. Brandon Cole, an F16 aircraft mechanic, embraces his girlfriend during an interview with a local television station, 13abc, after returning home from deployment. A 180th Fighter Wing Airman embraces a loved one for the first time in over two months.
A loved one hugs Tech. Sgt. Dustin Bauman, a fuel shop technician, for the first time in over two months. Senior Airman Tyler Newell embraces his wife in the hangar of the 180th Fighter Wing after returning from a deployment.