Soldiers Return From Afghanistan

Victoria Vega and Hailey Strickland waved banners of support for their favorite soldiers Dec. 3, when members of the 45th Sustainment Brigade at Schofield Barracks returned from a seven-month deployment to Afghanistan. Photo by Anthony Consillio, aconsillio@midweek.com.

Excited family members and concerned friends welcomed home more than 100 soldiers to Schofield Barracks Dec. 3 as the 45th Sustainment Brigade returned from a seven-month deployment to Afghanistan. The soldiers’ mission was to recover military equipment there and have it sent to the United States.

Covering an area roughly the size of Texas, the brigade had to sort, track and recover equipment from 46 bases in Afghanistan.

“They are great, they are innovative and they always find a way to accomplish the seemingly impossible,” said 8th Theater Sustainment Command commander Maj. Gen. Edward F. Dorman.

A total of 6,755 pieces of equipment, valued at more than $300 million, were recovered. In addition, they participated in more than 700 de-scoping projects (the closing of U.S. bases and other properties) across the country. Route clearance companies conducted 87 missions, while clearing more than 6,200 miles of Afghan highways to keep routes safe for both coalition forces and civilians.