Twelve home, about 400 to go.
The first contingent of the Utah National Guard's 1457th Combat Engineer Battalion returned from war Thursday, glad to be back and especially happy that their comrades will be following them soon.
"It's kind of exciting," said Staff Sgt. Kira Weimer, Salt Lake City. "It hasn't quite hit me all yet, but it probably will when I get home."
Staff Sgt. Charles Barkey, Spanish Fork, said, "It feels awesome to be back." No family member was at the airport to greet him — and that was the way he intended it.
"Actually, my wife has no idea" that he is back in Utah, Barkey said. "I'm surprising her. As soon as we get out of here, I'm surprising her at work."
Weimer, wearing her desert camouflage uniform with a knapsack on her back, stood beside her beaming mother, Jacqueline Weimer. The sergeant said she was with the unit when the members learned they had been tapped for an extended tour of duty.
"We were sitting in Kuwait waiting pretty much to have our conexes (cargo containers) inspected," she said. "We had already gotten our vehicles washed and ready to put on the boat and everything. And then they told us that there was a possibility that we would be extended."
She had mixed feelings, knowing her 24 months of active duty would be over but friends would be left in the Mideast. "It was kind of wrenching when I had to leave pretty much my family there," she said.
"I feel better knowing that they might be coming home."
In the beginning, the work was scary, she said. A security perimeter was set up, and if the soldiers left the perimeter, they were "locked and loaded and ready to shoot if anything happened."
Her mom said Kira's brother, Tony Weimer, left for Afghanistan last weekend with the Utah Army National Guard's 211th Aviation Battalion. "If it wasn't for that, this would be the glorious day," she said, her eyes glistening.
He may be gone for a year and a half or two years, Jacqueline Weimer added.
Kira Weimer was already at Fort Lewis, Wash., when she learned the orders of the rest of the 1457th were changed and they were to return home, too. She has been in touch by e-mail with other members of the group.
"Right now, they still don't want to hold their breath. They pretty much say, OK, I'll believe it when I get there (Utah). Their main concern is the families here because they don't want their families to get their hopes up or anything."
According to a press release issued Thursday by Guard headquarters in Draper, it's all right for family members to get their hopes up now. The engineer battalion "has officially been removed from the list of units being extended in Iraq, clearing the way for its return to Utah in early May," it said.
The 1457th was the focus of a controversy over extension of tours of duty. Most members were called into active duty in February 2003, spent two months training at Fort Lewis, then deployed to the war zone.
Family members were surprised when the Defense Department announced that the deployment would be for a full year. Some were dismayed when the military clarified that: the year was "boots on ground," time spent in the Middle East, with months at Fort Lewis not counting against the year.
The 1457th worked on dangerous engineering projects in Iraq, clearing out tunnels beneath the Baghdad airport and removing booby traps beside roads. They had nearly completed the year and had moved to Kuwait on the first leg of the trip home. Their gear was packed and they were preparing for the flight back when the Pentagon announced their duty was being extended.
A week ago, some family members formed a group called RACS, Rights for American Citizen Soldiers, to seek answers about the extension. But on Wednesday family members received phone calls from Kuwait: The 1457th was coming home after all. Guard officials could not confirm the news until Thursday.
The contingent of 12 who landed at Salt Lake City International Airport would have spent more than two years on active duty if the extension had gone through. They were sent home to avoid breaking the legal restriction that limits deployments to no more than 24 months per operation.
Operation Enduring Freedom dates from an executive order signed by President Bush on Sept. 15, 2001, said Guard spokeswoman Maj. Lorraine Januzelli.
Many family members greeted the returnees out of view of the media, as the airport waived normal security rules and let them go to the gate area. Other relatives, friends and officials, including Gov. Olene Walker, waited in the outer terminal.
As the soldiers walked in wearing camouflage, applause, whoops and shouts arose from the small crowd.
The Guard's Col. Bruce Frandsen said the entire battalion should begin returning to the United States about April 29. Asked why their orders changed, he said the U.S. Central Command commander decided they could return.
"We have worried and thought of them daily for over a year now," Frandsen said. The battalion was in dangerous circumstances. It did an outstanding job and is being recognized Friday by the Army Corps of Engineers as "the most outstanding and successful engineering battalion in the entire Army National Guard."
"It's exciting to have them all come home safe and sound," said Walker. "This is the first small group, but we're hoping that in a week or two, the additional individuals will come home."
Sgt. Bill Tatom, Vernal, said the rest of the battalion is relieved to be returning, too. His wife, Mary, held their son Jacob, 6 months.
"Feels great" to have him back, she said.
E-mail: bau@desnews.com