908th members returning this week

Members of the 908th Airlift Wing are returning from the desert this week. Check back here for more information and coverage.

The 908th deployed in May, after several delays due to the volcanic ash over Europe.

About 150 people deployed with several of the wing's C-130 cargo planes. The 908th is the only Air Force Reserve unit in the state and this was their first time back to the desert since 2008.

They've been flying combat support mission in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa for about four months. Flights crews, maintenance personnel and medical personnel are on the volunteer deployment.

While there, some of the aircraft and crews were diverted to aid in the Pakistan flood relief operations.

In mid-August, two aircraft and crews and maintenance personnel were diverted to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan and then on to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, to help transport relief supplies, said Lt. Col. Jerry Lobb, the wing spokesman.

Lobb said they supported the Pakistan relief efforts for about two weeks and then returned to their undisclosed deployed location.

While deployed, the Maxwell unit is the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron and their commander is Lt. Col. Scott Hayes of Montgomery.

The airmen used their C-130 Hercules cargo planes to move food, medical supplies and other relief items from an airfield near Islamabad to smaller, outlying airfields closer the where the supplies are needed, Lobb said.