200 Shaw airmen to return Saturday from deployment

About 200 airmen from the 20th Fighter Wing are scheduled to return Saturday from a six-month deployment.

A news release from Shaw did not indicate which unit would be returning, but the wing’s 77th Fighter Squadron deployed in October to conduct operations against ISIS force in October.

The unit will return about 2 a.m. Saturday.

“Anyone with base access is encouraged to attend the homecoming and welcome them home,” the release said.

A pilot from Shaw, Capt. William H. DuBois, 30, of New Castle, Colo., died in December when his F-16 fighter jet crashed in Jordan.

Shaw airmen and soldiers have been playing a key role in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Syria. It has deployed troops off and on since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

F-16 squadrons from the base have been deployed numerous times to the Middle East and southwest Asia to bomb targets in Iraq and Afghanistan. Air-to-ground attacks are the F-16’s specialty.

Also, Shaw is home to both U.S. Army Central and U.S. Air Forces Central. The two commands continue to plan, equip and supply the ground and air wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. They are the Army and Air Force component of U.S. Central Command, headquartered in Tampa, Fla.

The most recent air attacks, intended to degrade fighters of the Islamic State group, which has taken over large swaths of Syria and Iraq, began on Aug. 7.

This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 4:07 PM with the headline "200 Shaw airmen to return Saturday from deployment."