Chattanooga families welcome home part of Tennessee Air National Guard unit

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn recaps the Razorbacks' 8-3 win over Georgia on Saturday at Baum Stadium.

Dave Van Horn - Georgia Game 2 Postgame

Video available Watch Video
photo Staff Sgt. Caleb Hargraves kisses wife Brittany Hargraves after returning with the 241st Engineering Installation Squadron Tuesday afternoon to the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.
photo Five-year-old Savannah Forbes holds a sign as she waits for her father, Capt. Jeremy Forbes, to return with the 241st Engineering Installation Squadron Tuesday afternoon to the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.

Savannah Forbes circled the carpeted floor of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport on Tuesday in a homemade camouflage dress and a yellow ribbon sash.

The 5-year-old girl held a simple homemade sign as she wove around nearly 60 other people waiting outside the security checkpoint.

It read, "Welcome Home Daddy, we're so proud of you."

After nearly eight months away, Capt. Jeremy Forbes swept his little girl up for a hug.

Forbes and 16 other airmen with the Tennessee Air National Guard's 241st Engineering Installation Squadron returned home from deployments across the Middle East and Southwest Asia.

Maj. Gen. Max Haston, head of both Tennessee Air and Army National Guard forces, awaited their return.

"It's tough to see them go," Haston said. "But it's always great to see them come home, particularly when they all get to come home."

President Barack Obama's recent announcement that U.S. troops will leave Iraq by the end of the year may or may not affect Tennessee Guard deployments, Haston said.

Units from the guard are in Kuwait, the Horn of Africa, Kosovo and other areas, he said. About 1,200 Tennessee Guard soldiers and airmen now are deployed in the Middle East.

Maj. Marty Malone said the 241st is finishing its six-month rotation and will be out of the deployment cycle for the next two years when the rest of the unit returns next month.

During this deployment families back home relied on email, Skype video chatting and day-to-day life to keep them busy.

"It's very trying. The women take over and do things we don't normally have to do," said Rhonda Dunn, wife of 1st Sgt. Phillip Dunn.

The way in which Air Guard units deploy, often in groups as small as three- to seven-person teams, means their tours often don't grab a lot of attention.

Dunn said she hoped to see more public awareness of units that deploy that way.

"We started thinking, even if two go, it's just as important as if 300 go," she said.

Connect with the Times Free Press on Facebook

Upcoming Events