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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Thursday, December 9, 2004

Squadron back from deployment

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

KANE'OHE BAY — More than 300 crew members from Patrol Squadron 9 returned to Hawai'i yesterday morning from a six-month deployment that saw the squadron's P-3 Orion aircraft provide surveillance for Schofield Barracks soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Shanyn Gutierrez is reunited with her father, Flight Engineer Jason Gutierrez. He and more than other 300 members of Patrol Squadron 9 returned from a six-month deployment during which they provided aerial surveillance for Schofield soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Flying out of Bahrain, the Navy P-3s flew almost every day in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and almost as regularly in Operation Enduring Freedom.

"We provided intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support. We also provided direct support to those guys on the ground, troops in contact," said Cmdr. Perry Yaw, the squadron executive officer. "We're their eyes in the sky. We're looking for them, and talking to them."

For hundreds of families waiting impatiently at the Marine Corps base at Kane'ohe Bay, the most important thing was that their loved ones were home.

Emily Milone, 22, could barely stand the wait for her fiancé, Aviation Electrician 2 Jeremy Anelli, 24, as she scanned the squadron members streaming off a chartered DC-10.

In one hand was a bunch of balloons, in the other was a box of tissues,and on a leash was Dakota, the couple's pit bull, who was a little more patient.

After a long hug and a few more tears of joy on Milone's part, Anelli said the deployment was "a little unnerving at times, but definitely an experience — glad I could be a part of it."

Christie Corley waited with her daughters Amy, 14, and Bailey, 6, for the return of their father, Aviation Ordnance Chief Mike Corley, 36.

His return in time for Christmas "is a great big deal."

"He missed two birthdays," she said. "He's missed braces coming off. He's missed the start of high school, start of first grade. A lot of firsts."

Her husband has been with P-3 squadrons for 15 years. The four-engine prop planes were designed during the Cold War for anti-submarine warfare, but since the start of the war in Afghanistan they have taken on an overland as well as maritime mission.

Within days of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, P-3s began surveillance missions in Afghanistan and as the war started, VP-9 aircraft fired missiles against Taliban and al-Qaida targets.

"The overland role ... we were heavily involved with (after Operation Enduring Freedom)," Yaw said, "and we just continued to refine and develop that role."

The squadron flew about 620 sorties and logged more than 3,300 flight hours in support of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

All were without mishap, according to Yaw, who said the squadron last month marked 26 years of accident-free flying.

Teresa Mitchell had concerns for her husband, Lt. j.g. Derrick Mitchell, 35, a weapons officer. Several months ago she lost a cousin who was serving in the Middle East, and a soldier who is a friend received burns on 40 percent of his body in Afghanistan.

"I just feel blessed I was able to talk to (Derrick) every day," she said. "Of course, my fear factor was raised knowing he was in the danger zone."

Teresa Mitchell, also a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy, is deploying in January on an aircraft carrier. Their two daughters, ages 13 and 10, have been going to school in Georgia and staying with a grandparent because of the Mitchells' deployments.

She said it's been hard: "The kids aren't here, I'm here and he was there. ...We're all separated in different places."

John Hoover was waiting with his daughter, Kaila, 4, for the return of his wife, Petty Officer 1st Class Cheryl Hoover, a hospital corpsman.

"I'm proud of her. She'd been in the first ground war, Desert Storm, and was one of the first females going into Iraq," said Hoover, who grew up in Salt Lake and also is in the Navy.

Kaila, understandably, had a more different concern. "(I want to) show her that I can ride my two-wheel bike," she said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.