The Lawton Constitution:
Three days after Col. Lisa Bartel took command of 31st Air Defense Artillery (ADA) Brigade back in May, she deployed with its Headquarters and Headquarters Battery to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area.
Fast-forward nine months, and the 70 air defenders who accompanied her to the Persian Gulf region returned to a Fort Sill-style redeployment ceremony that began shortly after midnight Wednesday. Members of the 77th Army Band played jazzy tunes as family members bearing their homemade signs of welcome waited for the troops to march into Rinehart Fitness Center.
As part of the ceremony, the brigade command team of Bartel and Command Sgt. Maj. Giancarlo Macri uncased the unit’s colors to signify its return home.
“First and foremost, I want to say thank you and welcome home to the 31st ADA Brigade, the Archer Brigade,” said Brig. Gen. Randall McIntire, director of the Air and Missile Defense Cross Functional Team.
