Return of 82nd Airborne continues

Fayetteville, N.C. — The return of the 82nd Airborne Division from a 13-month deployment in Iraq continued Sunday.

Three planes flew into Pope Air Force Base Sunday, bringing 800 members of the 1st Brigade Combat Unit home.

The first 300 members of the unit were welcomed back on Thursday.

The 1st Brigade will be the last 82nd Airborne unit to return home since the entire division set off tours in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2007.

The 3,000 paratrooper-strong brigade lost eight members while serving as part of the troop surge in Iraq. It worked in western, central and southern Iraq and partnered with Iraqi security forces in the south.

Once the remaining paratroopers in the 1st Brigade Combat Team return home, all of the 82nd Airborne will be back at Fort Bragg.