File:Security Airmen return from Afghanistan (6009292843).jpg

CLAY NATIONAL GUARD CENTER, Marietta, Ga., July 29, 2011 – Airmen with Savannah’s 165th Security Forces Squadron (SFS), 165th Airlift Wing, returned Monday, July 18, from three months of duty at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, to their families, friends and fellow Airmen.

Here, members of the Savannah security team – a 25-Airman contingent commanded by 1st Lt. Roy Fountain – pose for a group photo along with one of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles they used during their tour-of-duty to conduct their mission.

During its time at Bagram, the 165th SFS conducted a variety of defense and security missions while under direction of the base’s Joint Defense Operations Center (JDOC). Team members also conducted data analysis projects, assisted with a redesign of a foreign national hospital entry control point, and facilitated the movement of the JDOC to a newer building.

“Many among the team also volunteered for missions outside the wire,” said Tech Sgt. Peter Bowden, one of the team members. “Doing so gave my fellow Airmen and I the opportunity to experience what both mounted and dismounted combat patrols are like.”

“The Savannah team came to Bagram and immediately made a great impact on the mission here,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Hannon, a Rhode Island Air National Guardsman assigned as Bagram’s security operations officer. “We wanted to make a positive impact on our active duty counterparts, and I believe the men and women of the 165th SFS helped us do that in every way possible. I would proudly serve with them again, any day, any where.”