Members of 44th Medical Brigade return to North Carolina
RALEIGH-DURHAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (WTVD) -- Six soldiers with the 44th Medical Brigade's 528th Combat Operational Stress Control Team who were originally set to arrive at Fort Bragg, instead touched down at Raleigh-Durham International Airport Monday evening because of a missed connecting flight at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Unlike the customary big homecoming welcome, these soldiers were greeted by one commander and a sergeant major.
"On the plane, I was like, 'Wow, I've never seen such a beautiful country before in my life.' I was coming back over here. I was really excited and I was just ready to get back to work," said Pfc. Antonio Delgado.
These soldiers represent a small portion of the 44th Medical Brigade deployed to Afghanistan in May.
Their work with soldiers on the front lines included clinical counseling, stress management, and stress prevention classes. They say the behavioral health component of their job is as important as physical fitness.
"If they're not mentally prepared to go out and function, then they could do harm to their fellow soldiers and the rest of their command so I think that we go out and we do prevention work," said Maj. Rebecca Blake of the 44th. "We try to make sure that we give classes to these soldiers to help before issues even start."
The 528th is one of several Fort Bragg that have recently returned or is scheduled to return soon, because of the military's scaled back presence in Afghanistan.
