NORTH ISLAND NAVAL BASE - More than 40 sailors and officers from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron-6 landed at North Island Naval Base in Coronado Saturday afternoon, ending a nearly 10-month deployment to the Indo Pacific and Middle East.
The homecoming brought tears of joy and warm embraces as families and friends gathered to welcome their loved ones back to San Diego.
Chuck Dimer was among the crew members stepping off the helicopters into the arms of his mother, Jane.
"It's good. It's great," Dimer said about being back home.
The weather provided a perfect backdrop for the reunion, with clear skies replacing the stormy conditions the crews had expected.
"We were expecting the worst, and it's an awesome day here. It's beautiful San Diego flying home," Dimer said.
Jane Dimer watched anxiously as the helicopters approached the base, preparing for her first words to her son.
"I love him and I'm so proud. I'm so proud," she said. "And all the people who couldn't be here today will be here with him in spirit."
Commander Ryan Yonkman said this marked the first deployment for many of the crew members, including Chuck Dimer. The mission exposed them to challenging conditions and new experiences across multiple countries.
"A lot of new food, a lot of new countries, temperatures sometimes over 140 degrees that some of my junior sailors didn't quite believe that I had seen before until we got up there," Yonkman said. "It was a pretty cool experience to learn how to operate in different environments."
The care packages from home proved essential during the long deployment.
"The packages were excellent. Salty snacks, Celsius packets, all the good stuff kept us going. Beef jerky kept us going," Dimer said.
The squadron has been deployed since March, serving in operations across the Indo Pacific and Middle East regions.
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