Last aviation brigade Soldiers reunite with Families after deployment

Photo By Sgt. Roland Hale | Kristin Maldonado gives her husband, Capt. Ricardo Maldonado, a long-awaited hug May 14 after the latter returned from more than a year in Iraq. Ricardo and three other soldiers were reunited with their families on Fort Riley late Friday night. These are the last Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division soldiers to return from Iraq. The brigade returned several months ago, but left the group behind to help another unit set up their operations in southern Iraq.  

FORT RILEY, KANSAS, UNITED STATES

05.14.2011

Story by Sgt. Roland Hale 

19th Public Affairs Detachment, 1st Infantry Division

FORT RILEY, Kan. — Four Fort Riley soldiers returned to their families, May 14, after spending more than a year in Iraq.

Families and fellow soldiers from the Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, greeted the returning group at Marshall Army Airfield late Friday night.

These are the last CAB, 1st Inf. Div. soldiers to return from Iraq. The brigade redeployed several months ago, but the group stayed behind to help another unit set up their operations in southern Iraq.

The soldiers closed out a historic tour for Army aviation, as the brigade was the Army’s first and only enhanced combat aviation brigade. The CAB supported operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn, and for most of its deployment was the Army’s only aviation brigade in Iraq.

• Date Taken: 05.14.2011
• Date Posted: 05.14.2011 13:42
• Story ID: 70375
• Location: FORT RILEY, KANSAS, US