More than 300 soldiers from the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade 1st Infantry Division (1ID) returned to Fort Riley today in the first of multiple redeployment ceremonies.
April is the month of the military child; and children were the focus for many of the soldiers returning home today.
For Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CW4) Tim Kirschbaum this was his sixth deployment, but that didn’t dull his excitement coming home to his family. “I’m absolutely exhilarated right now, I’m coming back from my 6th tour, and [my girls] just keep growing on me.”
Heidi Eiman, wife of CW2 Walter Eiman, said that though this was the first deployment for their three children, they showed strength in their father’s absence. “I didn’t know how [the would handle it], but they did really, really great; a couple weeks ago [our younger daughter] started hauling around pictures of daddy everywhere she went.”
Sergeant Jared Rivera noted that in the age of social media, the time apart from his three children was easier to bear. “It’s easier to stay focused with the internet and technology we had access to seeing them every night and talking to them every night and my wife was a lot of my strength.”
A second redeployment ceremony took place at noon today with more than 200 soldiers and a third is scheduled overnight at 2:00 am.
The “Demon Brigade” deployed to Afghanistan as part of a regular rotation of forces in August 2016 in support of Operation Resolute Support and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
All members of the “Demon Brigade” in Afghanistan are expected to redeploy (return home) by the end of April, according to 1st ID Public Affairs.
