Homecoming For U.S. Fighter Pilots

Friends and families cheered as a squadron of F/A-18 fighter jets roared over the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station on Tuesday, returning from a six-month deployment in the war against terror.

The fighters were the first of three 12-plane squadrons to return from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, their base for missions over Afghanistan.

Children waved American flags and families taped the return on video cameras as the jets pulled up in front of a hangar.

The first group to touch down was Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 251. Two Navy squadrons were expected back later Tuesday.

The squadrons, deployed following the September attacks on the World Trade Center, spent a record 161 days at sea without a port call.

"It was difficult," said one of the fliers, Maj. Sam Tolliver. "It was repetitious. The problem with that kind of repetition is you get complacent and you can't get complacent at all when you're on a ship."

In all, the squadrons flew 2,100 combat sorties. Some of the missions lasted up to eight hours, while a few required the jets to be refueled in midair up to five times.

During the mission, there were no injuries to any squadron members or their support people.