Grissom firefighters return home for the holidays Published Dec. 30, 2010 By Tech. Sgt. Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- During this holiday season people around the world exchanged gifts, but few got a gift as special as the Grissom family right before Christmas. Five firefighters from the 434th Civil Engineer Squadron returned home to their family and friends Dec. 23 after being deployed for four months in Southwest Asia with the 405th Air Expeditionary Group. "This was amazing, and I didn't think it was going to happen," said Tech. Sgt. Aaron Dehner, one of the returning Airmen. "Our day (to return) was actually supposed to be Christmas day, and my daughter Lindsey said this would be the best Christmas present ever." Getting back two days before Christmas allowed the returning Airmen to settle in for the holiday season. Still, Sergeant Dehner said, in some ways, this Christmas had a different feel to it. "It was weird leaving 80 to 90 degree temperatures and coming home to Christmas two days later," said Sergeant Dehner. "It's like it was right out of the movies, a Norman Rockwell type thing." While deployed, the firefighters provided fire protection for an airfield and tent city at austere base in Southwest Asia. "The mission itself was getting the supplies to the war fighters," Sergeant Dehner explained. "It had a direct impact to the guys on the ground, and that was important." The sergeant also explained how proud he was of not only the Grissom Airmen he deployed with, but also with Airmen from other Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units that integrated seamlessly with them. "There were Airman from eight different bases, and for our shift at the firehouse, we went four months with each other day-in and day-out, 24 hours a day," he explained. "We were able to melt together and form a team; it's a part of the Grissom spirit to get things done and mold together as one team." While the firefighters were deployed, they received a lot of support from members of the Grissom family, both professionally and personally. "Home station really took care of us," said Sergeant Dehner. "We had a lot of support from the guys in logistics and from (434th CES) people like Master Sgt. Chris Rust. "We can't thank those guys enough," he added. The 434th CES is part of the 434th Air Refueling Wing at Grissom. Members of the unit routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission. The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker base in the Air Force Reserve Command. Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.
