Pope families welcome loved ones home Published April 15, 2004 By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AFPN) -- Balloons, hand-painted "welcome home" signs, ear-to-ear smiles and a few tears greeted Airmen and a small group of Soldiers who returned here April 14 following deployments in Southwest Asia."It's great to have them back," said Lt. Gen. William Welser III, commander of 18th Air Force at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., who greeted the plane. General Welser credited the Airmen with "doing a great job and making it happen" as they supported the war on terror. He said he witnessed many of the newly arrived Airmen at work in the region firsthand during his visit to Southwest Asia just a few weeks earlier. "But it's much better to see them home with their families, and to see the big smiles on the kids' faces," he said. Some family members who gathered inside a hangar at nearby Pope Air Force Base were welcoming a loved one home from combat for the first time. Among them was Sarah Barnes, who waited with 4-month-old Ian Michael to greet husband and father, Capt. Jason Barnes. Captain Barnes, recently assigned to the 41st Airlift Squadron at Pope, had spent just two months in Southwest Asia, but said he expects to return for his next, longer deployment to the region in July. As excited as Mrs. Barnes was about her husband's homecoming, she said because he would leave again so soon gave it a "bittersweet" note. "But for now," she said, "we're going to concentrate on getting this little one to know his daddy before he goes back again." For many other family members in the group, including Staff Sgt. Julie Hewett from the 43rd Communications Squadron at Pope, the homecoming was just one more in a seemingly never-ending cycle of deployments and redeployments. Sergeant Hewett said she and her husband, Tech Sgt. Mark Hewett, have both deployed frequently supporting the war on terror. "I figure that in the past seven months, we've probably seen each other about two weeks," she said. Her husband said he expects to deploy to Southwest Asia again in July. But that did not dampen the enthusiasm of 3-year-old Davis, who, perched atop his mother’s shoulders, excitedly pointed to the charter plane as it approached the runway, then lumbered down the tarmac toward the waiting families. "That's my daddy! That's daddy's plane!" he squealed. Maggie Klavik and her four children have also learned to deal with Maj. Pete Klavik’s frequent deployments to Southwest Asia. This one, three and a half months long, was Major Klavik's third in less than two years with the 41st AS. Shorter, more frequent deployments common in the Air Force -- as opposed to the longer deployments typical in the other services -- are a lot easier for the children left behind, particularly younger ones, Mrs. Klavik said. "But it's harder for the parents," she said. "It's a lot harder," said Susan Broughman, whose husband, Master Sgt. Brandon Broughman, was returning home from his third deployment with the 41st AS. "There's always a transition, and you always have in the back of your mind, 'It's great that he's home, but he's leaving again soon.’" As the families waited for that first glimpse of their loved ones as they climbed from the aircraft and walked toward the hangar, their thoughts were on the more immediate future: a first hug, a big dinner and catching up.