Articles

Members of HSC-25 return from seven month deployment

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Sonya Padilla
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam --  Thirty-two members of U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 Detachment One returned to Andersen Dec. 5 after operating several missions off of the USS Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group from May through December 2007.

In addition to the Kitty Hawk, HSC-25 also supported the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group and the USS John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group during Exercise Valiant Shield as well as Exercises Talisman and Malabar.

One of the primary missions during this deployment was to provide the aircraft carrier and crewmembers with ammunition, said Lieutenant Patrick Trainor, HSC-25.

"The added benefit of our capability was to deliver food and supplies, as needed, for other ship requirements because they could not afford to pull in and re-supply," he said.

Participation from the detachment also took place in the 2007 7th Fleet Annual Exercise in November. The purpose of the ANNUALEX is to improve bilateral interoperability, defend Japan against maritime threats and to improve capability for surface and undersea warfare and air defense.

Several ports visited during the deployment were located in Sasebo, Okinawa, Yokosuka, Subic Bay, Palau, Chinhae and Guam. The detachment departs the ship at shore bases and crewmembers are allowed to fly while the ship is in port for extended periods.

"We achieved a 100 percent mission completion rate for the entire cruise and even picked up some missions that we were not originally tasked with," said Lieutenant Trainor.

Upon arriving to Andersen, the returning members were anxiously welcomed back home by loved ones at a homecoming celebration.

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