More than 100 Airmen from McChord Field's 10th Airlift Squadron returned home from a 120-day deployment Sept. 1 with some significant mission milestones under their belt.

During its deployment as the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron to an overseas contingency location in the Middle East, the 10th AS flew more than 1,600 combat sorties, moved more than 60,000 passengers and delivered more than 60 million pounds of cargo, including 6.9 million pounds of critical supplies airdropped directly to remote forward operating locations in Afghanistan.

"We executed more than 5,000 mishap-free flight hours, overcoming some of the most hostile conditions on the planet, extreme heat, rugged terrain, austere airfields as well as enemy surface to air threats," said Lt. Col. Brad Bridges, 817th EAS commander.

But the sheer mission numbers isn't the thing that will stand out most for 1st Lt. Reinier Villanueva, a C-17 Globemaster III co-pilot who'd just completed his first deployment.

"It's hard to put it into words," said the San Diego native. "I've been in simulators, I've been in locals, I've learned how to take off and land. Then all of the sudden you have combat troops in the back and you have some cargo and have no idea what it's for. You don't know where it's going but you have to get it there. And it's just incredible to be part of that big mission."

Villanueva experienced his first operational mission on the deployment, just as he was getting familiar with how things work in a deployed environment.   

"I had only executed training missions up until that point," the lieutenant said. "It was not overwhelming, but exhilarating ... something that I'll definitely never forget."

Villanueva and his fellow squadron members conducted critical airland and airdrop resupply missions for combat forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the squadron also supported numerous aeromedical evacuation missions, along with the safe movement of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense.

"In an unprecedented mid-deployment movement of C-17 Globemaster III mobility forces in theater, the unit also seamlessly relocated the entire squadron to two new operating locations in less than 36 hours - a demonstration of the truly expeditionary airlift capability we bring to the fight," Bridges said.

For Villanueva, the deployment put a face on the mission that all pilots train for while at home, leading up to the time they take the controls over Afghanistan. On several occasions on troop transport missions, the lieutenant was able to see and meet the Soldiers or Marines he was flying.  

"(You) see the difference in the people when you take them out there, and there is some apprehension, but you can see they're ready to go out," he said. "And then you switch and do a complete 180 (degree switch to) people who have been there a year and you get to see how relieved they are. That's all in the same day, so you get a multitude of emotions. It's good to see that."

The experience also brought with it a bit of realization of the impact of the war, as several crewmembers deployed with Villanueva flew the bodies of U.S. Servicemembers home from the deployed locations.

"It made it very real," Villanueva said. "Instead of just reading about Kabul and Kandahar, I'm there. We had people that went to Baghram and brought them home. It's not just something that is in the newspaper, it's something that is affecting the people I was there and interacting with."