From the S&S archives:
1st Europe-based unit sent to gulf was 'wind that carried the storm'

RHEIN-MAIN AB, Germany — The first Europe-based American unit to reach the Persian Gulf region as part of Operation Desert Shield returned Friday to a: reception warm enough to blunt the chilly wind.

"It feels wonderful," said Col. Thomas Mikolajcik, commander of the 435th Tac Airlift Wing, when asked how it felt to have his people back.

Several hundred people greeted the returning airmen with balloons and flags, hugs and kisses. A portion of the USAFE Band played as the fleet of 16 C-130 transport planes taxied to a halt.

Actually, only about 500 of the 800 Rhein-Main personnel deployed to Oman, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have returned. But those who reached Germany on Friday were glad to see the gray skies of home.

"It's been a long time," said Tech. Sgt. George F. Carling III, a flight engineer who left Aug. 14.

He returned briefly in February for the birth of his son, George IV. Leaving again was harder than leaving the first time, he said.

"I didn't want to do it," Caning said. "But that's my job. I had to do it."

Dr. (Capt.) Steven Wiersma, a flight surgeon, was getting reacquainted with his son, Mark, who will celebrate his first birthday in two weeks. Wiersma left Germany in August.

"This guy's a little bigger, a little heavier," Wiersma said.

The Rhein-Main contingent became part of the 1630th Tac Airlift Wing (Provisional) once it reached the gulf in August, the first C-130s to reach the makeshift base.

During their time in the gulf region, the Rhein-Main crews ferried supplies throughout the theater, including bombs, bullets and soldiers. In the days before the ground war, they made numerous flights to desert airfields.

In a speech during a reception for the returning servicemembers, Mikolajcik said, "You, the airlifters, were the wind that carried the storm."

He said they had flown 11,000 hours, carried 20,000 passengers and hauled millions of pounds of cargo during their mission.

One of the people aboard the first plane out of Rhein-Main last August was Capt. Russell E. Taylor, a navigator.

"There's no way to describe what it feels like to be back," he said. "It feels good. That's all I can say."

He said he remembered different things about his experience — "the people that you live with, the fun you had."

"You remember flying 20 hours a day — the hard work. You remember waking up in the middle of the night to Scud alerts and putting on chemical gear."

Taylor said one moment is clear. He was flying back to an airfield in Saudi Arabia at night when the crew saw something shoot into the air. At first, they were puzzled.

"Then we figured out they were shooting Patriots," Taylor said. "For about five seconds, we thought, `This is neat.' Then we thought, `Holy smoke, they're shooting things into the air.'"