Amber Butler couldn't wait another second to hug her husband.
About 130 soldiers and family members erupted in cheers Monday afternoon at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton as about 36 members of the 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron came home from Afghanistan. The squad, which makes up the majority of Canada's helicopter force in Afghanistan, wraps up its last tour in that country this month.
Among those soldiers was Cpl. Ron Butler, a door gunner with the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) regiment. Mere moments after he'd entered the hangar, a purple-clad blur he knew as his wife Amber streaked from the crowd and gave him a big hug.
"I just couldn't wait any longer," a smiling Amber said later. "I'm glad I didn't hit anyone!"
Ron said he was ecstatic to see Amber again after his five-month tour — his first in Afghanistan.
"I'm feeling pretty good. I'm home," he said.
Welcome back
Canada's combat troops officially withdrew from Afghanistan this June. About a thousand others are expected to head back there to help train local soldiers and police officers over the next few years.
The 408s have been flying in Afghanistan since about 2008, transporting troops and spotting roadside bombs.
Most of the squad is now back in Canada, said Cpl. Ted McGirr, apart from a handful of administrators and technicians. Those members are now packing up the squad's helicopters for shipment and are expected to come home later this month.
The tour was a good chance to showcase his skills while helping troops and locals on the ground, McGirr said. "It gave me more of an appreciation of what I have at home."
As a flight engineer, McGirr said he spent most of his time manning a gun in a Griffon helicopter, escorting troops and transports. "We didn't do a lot of hunting," he said, and they didn't come under fire that often. "They didn't really want to come out to play."
Now that he's back, he planned to take it easy, get his house back in order and do a bunch of laundry.
Reservist and Morinville resident Tami Marchinko was at the hanger to greet her husband Jason, a veteran pilot on his second tour in Afghanistan. It's tough raising two young boys when he's away, she said, but she manages. "We have rules and we stick to the routine."
She also kept in regular contact with Jason through video-conferencing. "The kids like to play hide-and-seek when he's on Skype," she said, referring to a common teleconference tool.
Life will get a lot easier now that he's back. "He'll get to see our four-year-old start school on the 31st."
Leigh Widdowson, a St. Albert resident and nurse, ran out to greet her friend Krista Cascun with a big bouquet of flowers. "She's been in a desert for four months," she explained, and could use some colour. Widdowson herself came home to a house full of blossoms at the end of her tour in Afghanistan in 2007. "It was so nice to see."
Widdowson said she was still waiting for her husband, parachute rigger Sebastien Pinard, to come home later this month. "He's never seen our home in St. Albert, so it'll be exciting for him."
