SOUTHWEST ASIA –
Thousands of miles away from the state of "Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places," more than 80 service members from around the air base in Southwest Asia gathered Sunday for the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron's deployed version of the annual Cooper River Bridge 10K run.
The squadron organized the event, which mirrored the run their home unit, the 17th Airlift Squadron at Charleston AFB, was running in order to remind them of home and raise morale.
"It was great being able to share this experience with friends and families back home," said Capt. Matt Jarrett, who led the planning effort for the deployed members and has been connecting runners in Southwest Asia with family and friends in the states for months. "For many of the warriors, it was their first taste of the South Carolina spring tradition."
An avid runner, he recently ran a full marathon here with his coworker, 1st Lt. Jess Lopez, who was running the Los Angeles Marathon at the same time her mom was running it in California.
Once again, the 10K here was more than just a run for many of the participants. Airmen coordinated with their families and friends back home in Charleston, who donated T-shirts for deployed participants while they raced in their own, personalized race shirts that paid tribute to their deployed loved ones.
First Lt. Brook Heiling and his girlfriend, Shannon, were instrumental in the set up of the event and did a great deal of the coordination on both ends of the world. He said it was "an avenue" to keep in touch with her.
"[I'd like to say] thanks to everyone back home for all their support," Lieutenant Heiling said. "It was fun having a piece of Charleston out here at the deployed location."
The 17th Airlift Squadron is currently deployed to Southwest Asia and is scheduled to return to Charleston AFB in May.