Airmen welcomed home from deployment

  • Published
  • By Mark Wyatt
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – Senior leaders joined family and friends in welcoming home service members who have returned from deployment in the past year at a ceremony inside the base conference center July 27.

The ceremony, held each year since 2007, included the formal ceremony at the conference center, as well as a parade through the installation and a base picnic at the chapel gazebo.

“I think it is really great to honor Airmen when they come home from a deployment,” said Capt. Casey Cox, a contracting officer assigned to Battle Management. Cox returned home from deployment in May after serving as a contingency contracting officer in Afghanistan.

Also attending the ceremony were Airman 1st Class Colby Morin and Senior Airman Michael McConville, members of the 66th Security Forces Squadron, who returned home earlier this week from a deployment to Southeast Asia.

“This event was awesome,” Morin said. “I appreciate that we were recognized. I know that it hasn’t always been that way for earlier generations who have served in the military.”

Col. Roman L. Hund, the installation commander, thanked Airmen and their families for their service and sacrifice during his remarks.

“As members of America’s all volunteer force, they have joined the long line of patriots willing to sacrifice their lives for our nation and our ideals,” said Hund. “We understand we can never repay these heroes for the missed anniversaries, missed birthdays, holidays and other special occasions.”

Medal of Honor recipient Thomas G. Kelly joined Hund and Hanscom Command Chief Patricia L. Hickey in presenting Airmen with medallions and coins.

This year’s ceremony included remarks from congressional staffers.

"No amount of revelry can properly acknowledge our gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifice of our military service members, but I hope this celebration serves as a reminder of how proud we are to have our hometown heroes back on our shores," read Kate Machet, a regional director for U.S. Sen. Edward Markey.

Attending the ceremony to read a letter for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was Adrienne Viarengo, a regional director for Warren.

"To all the Hanscom Airmen, and to the entire Hanscom community, thank you for all that you do day in and day out. You make our Commonwealth and our country proud," O’Brien read on behalf of Warren.

Ken Christopher, veterans and military liaison for Rep. Niki Tsongas, presented a certificate of congressional recognition to the base on behalf of Tsongas.

The events culminated with base personnel lining Hanscom's roads waving flags and cheering deployers and their families who were riding in vintage military vehicles and a Boston Duck Boat. A base picnic followed the parade to celebrate the completion of the base’s biennial Unit Effectiveness Inspection.