Air Force Group Returns From Kuwait

Twenty-seven Air Force civil engineers and a four-person air tanker crew returned to Fairchild Air Force Base on Sunday after spending three months in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Southern Watch.

Members of the 92nd Civil Engineering Squadron left in October to help set up accommodations and water supplies for military encampments in Kuwait. They flew home on a KC-135 air tanker based at Fairchild, Sgt. Sue Conard said.

Twelve military firefighters who belong to the same unit could return as soon as this week, Conard said.

U.S. military forces began a buildup in the Persian Gulf last fall called Operation Southern Watch. The operation is a response to an Iraqi military buildup near the Kuwaiti border.