Klamath Falls, Ore. – Two airmen from Kingsley Field returned home Tuesday night from a lengthy tour of duty overseas.
Master Sergeant Osten Coaty was surprised when a crowd of nearly 100 people met him at the airport.
Coaty and Master Sergeant Monika Wilder were deployed for more than six months to a location in southwest Asia.
Wilder says they can’t say exactly where. “I don’t know if we can say – I think it’s undisclosed.”
Wilder adds her deployment job was fast-paced. “I worked for the comm squadron, and I was knowledge management – which was a career I had gone to tech school for.”
Wilder’s immediate ‘family’ in Klamath Falls is her three dogs: Hobbes, Charlie, and Watson.
“I missed them quite a bit,” said Wilder. “Especially in the first few months, and then I started getting used to it. But I thought about them the whole time, and I really did miss them.”
Just a short time later, Monika and her ‘fur babies’ had a happy reunion. “They need a lot of love. So, I’m happy – and I’m sure they’re happy, too.”
Master Sergeants Wilder and Coaty both said they were ‘very surprised’ by the big reception at the airport.
Wilder says she plans to catch up on rest and relaxation for the next couple of weeks.
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