Italy-based unit returns from downrange mission

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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60233

Col. Thomas Gould, commander of the 31st Operations Group at Aviano Air Base, Italy, greets Capt. Tim Nagy as he steps off the World Airways jet that returned him and more than 60 other members of the 603rd Air Control Squadron back from a four-month deployment to Qatar.


Italy-based unit returns from downrange mission
By Kent Harris, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, January 25, 2009

AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — Halloween. Thanksgiving. Christmas. New Year’s. The inauguration of a new U.S. president.

Four months might not seem like a long time to some, but 62 members of the 603rd Air Control Squadron missed a lot of celebrations with their families.

"Christmas and three birthdays," said Brendan Rouse, whose wife — Tech. Sgt. Anna Rouse — returned Saturday. The couple have four children: Alyssa, 17, Mikayla, 11, Gabriel, 8, and Israel, 4.

"And I suck at Christmas," said Brendan Rouse, who works for the child development center on base. "The boys I can shop for, but the girls. …"

Mom will get a chance to help with shopping now. She and the rest of the Scorpions who returned from their deployment to Al Udeid, Qatar, on a World Airways jet haven’t had a lot of time for that sort of thing lately.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60237