Commander leads 600 soldiers home to Drum

FORT DRUM — Col. Erik C. Peterson has led the soldiers of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division throughout their yearlong deployment in Iraq.

At a welcome-home ceremony late Monday, he led them home.

About 600 soldiers, most from the 277th Aviation Support Battalion of the aviation brigade and others from a finance brigade, returned to Fort Drum on two flights earlier in the day. At 9 p.m., hundreds of friends and family members cheered through a short ceremony, led by Col. Peterson, before rushing to greet their returning soldiers in a hangar at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield.

Troops from the aviation brigade have been returning to Fort Drum in groups for several weeks. By the end of next week, about 85 percent of the unit's soldiers should be back on base, said Sgt. Daniel Carr, a spokesman for the unit.

Pfc. Allan M. Berry celebrated his return with an immediate proposal to his girlfriend, Lindsay M. Aiello. She said yes.

"I told you I'd do it," Pfc. Berry told Staff Sgt. Alfred Winters with a grin.

Sgt. Winters gave his soldier a high five before disappearing into the crowd.

The aviation brigade has been providing air support for U.S. troops stationed at Multinational Division North and for their Iraqi partners. The duty has included a wide range of missions, from air transport and combat to medical evacuations, Col. Peterson said.

"For the entire northern portion of Iraq and all the U.S. forces and Iraqi partners, we were providing all of the aviation support for the past year," Col. Peterson said. "I'm immensely proud of them."

Col. Peterson said conditions in Iraq have changed during the past year.

"I think a lot better may be pushing it a little bit, but there's been significant progress," Col. Peterson said. "The security agreements were a huge milestone, and the Iraqis are definitely in the lead. So it's their time for self-determination and to figure out what they want for the future of Iraq. We helped set the conditions for that, and they're well on their way."

Col. Peterson will leave his post with the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade in November. He said he isn't sure what his next assignment will be.

But two things seem certain.

The brigade is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in the fall of 2010.

And Col. Peterson will get some long-awaited time with his family. He planned to spend Monday night "talking to my girls, hearing what's going on in school and listening to a little bit about what's going on in their lives."

"And then getting a good night's sleep."