Reflecting on Year-long Deployment

U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Gary Sanders (center) A Company, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment's top enlisted Soldier, salutes Capt. Russ Vander Lugt (left), the unit's commander, during the company's end-of-tour awards ceremony at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 22, 2010. Vander Lugt, Breezy Point, Minn., and Sanders, Cincinnati, led the UH-60 Black Hawk company that flew 4,100 aircraft hours, more than 14,000 crew member hours, and approximately 1,200 missions during its year-long deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.