Minnesota National Guard's 133rd Airlift Wing returns home from Africa

Thursday was an emotional day for the friends and family of Minnesota National Guard members returning from a monthslong deployment, and WCCO was there in St. Paul for the momentous homecoming.

More than 100 members of the 133rd Airlift Wing were in Africa supporting counterterrorism operations, and carried out several high priority missions for the U.S. Africa Command.

"It's been us four girls for three-and-a-half months, and now Dad's going to have a home of screaming girls once again," said the wife of Maj. Jack Hubert.

Some reunions also included furry family members.

"He's got two little kitty cats and he hasn't seen them since February," said June Kuntze, mother of Staff Sgt. Evan Fleischhacker.

Little Coda, a puppy, is 7 months old now and he's grown quite a bit since Heidy Dahl's husband, Tech. Sgt. Aaron Dahl, left for his service.  

"It's been sad that he's been missing out on like all these little milestones for our first dog, so I'm mostly excited for him to see Coda and get to be a part of it again," said Dahl.

For some, the reunion was hard to put into words.

"Something that if you haven't gone through it before, you can't describe it," said Jack Hubert. "Everyone got 2 inches bigger and grew up a lot."

For others, it's still sinking in.

"On the way home it's just a rush. Still in the rush right now," said Evan Fleischhacker.

But after months of sacrifice and separation, the simple things mean the most. 

"Just be a family again, that's all that matters," said Jack Hubert.

The deployment to Africa also marked the end of an era for the 133rd Airlift Wing. They retired the C-130 H Model aircraft that's been in service the past 30 years.