500 National Guard Pilots, Others Welcomed Back At Selfridge Base

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Dignitaries have welcomed back to Michigan roughly 500 National Guard pilots and support crew members from Middle East missions.

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, Representative Candice Miller and others spoke Sunday morning at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County's Harrison Township.

The personnel mainly returned home in late October and November from a more than six-month mission in and near Syria, Afghanistan and other nations in the U.S. Central Command area of operations. Officials say they represented the largest and longest mass deployment from Selfridge since the Korean War.

Officials say A-10 pilots were involved in about 1,600 sorties and logged more than 11,000 hours of combat flight time.

"It is an honor to help welcome home these incredibly hardworking and courageous Airmen. I think I speak for all Michiganders when I say how proud I am of our fellow residents who served overseas with bravery and integrity," Snyder said in a statement. "It is great to have them all back home safely to spend the holidays with their loved ones."

Syria is in its fifth year of a civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and spurred a massive refugee crisis.

The Islamic State group has seized oil refineries and other infrastructure in Iraq and Syria as it sought to generate revenue to build a self-sufficient state. It's claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in Paris and elsewhere.

The group currently holds territory in roughly a third of Iraq and Syria, and U.S.-led coalition forces continue to launch airstrikes in support of allied ground forces in both countries. Russia has recently launched military strikes in Syria that it says are intended to eradicate IS forces.

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