FORT HOOD, Texas - Rebecca Vincent took her three children to watch their father, Staff Sgt. Ty Vincent, return from his deployment to Iraq as he and more than 120 other Soldiers from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division landed at Robert Gray Army Airfield, March 17.
Ty, assigned to Troop F, 3rd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, returned as a part of the advanced party brought home to help receive the rest of the brigade over the next two months.
"It takes one day at a time to get through a deployment and the children and I are very excited to have him home," Rebecca said. "This is our fourth deployment and our first deployment with Fort Hood."
Although most people there were family members picking up their Soldiers, there were a few who were there just for support.
"I'm here to welcome home the troops," said 11-year-old Taylor Pitkus, whose father, Command Sgt. Maj. Eric Pitkus, the top enlisted member of 3rd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, has not returned yet .
As the buses pulled up in front of the division's parade field, friends and family stood and yelled, "Move that bus!"; allowing the formation of Soldiers to march forward onto Cooper Field, in front of division headquarters.
Brig. Gen. John Murray, 1st Cav. Div.'s deputy commanding general, welcomed the Soldiers home and made a brief pause before giving Family members and friends the command of "Charge!"; releasing the them to surge forward to find their troopers.
One of the rushing family members was expecting mother Ashley Pace whose husband, Spc. Matthew Pace, serves with 2nd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st ACB.
"This is our first deployment and I'm excited [for his return], but I think I'm going to cry so I try not to think about it," she said.
Soldiers of the 1st ACB should all be back in Texas by the end of May; marking the first time in almost two years that America's First Team will be home on Fort Hood.
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