It's good to be home.

National Guardsmen with the 269th Engineering Detachment returned home Saturday to a crowd of well-wishers and family members at the National Guard Armory in Live Oak. The unit of 13 well drillers and one medic returned from Afghanistan, where they had been stationed since May 13, 2009.

Nervous energy filled the crowd as one local youngster yelled, “I see them coming.”

Loved ones rushed to line the street outside the Armory waving American flags and cheering as the bus carrying the troops entered the grounds.

“Welcome home,” were the first words Shanda Johnson, wife of guardsman Craig Johnson, said to her husband as she and nearly a dozen of their family members gathered for his return.

“I’m glad he’s back, it’s been a year,” said their 14-year-old son Jarvis.

First Lieutenant Xavier Rivera led the unit from the bus and through the crowd as they stacked in formation casting smiles toward their family members.

After a short song and prayer, Rivera uttered the magical words: “269th, dismissed from duty,” as the lined men and woman fell from attention.

Rivera, who had only been married a year himself before his deployment raced to embrace his wife Karin.

“Bienvenido a casa mi amor — welcome home my love,” she whispered in his ear.

The group had originally planned for deployment to the horn of Africa (Djibouti) to conduct drilling operations and win over the hearts of the people there, but at the drop of a dime they were given new orders.

“This trend changed in the blink of an eye as our mission was changed literally the day we were activated,” Rivera recalled.

The unit was sent to Regional Command South (RC South) and were stationed out of Kandahar Air Field (KAF), as the first of the Army’s six well drilling units to be sent to Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, the unit’s drill rig, their main piece of equipment, suffered irreparable damage while on transport from Africa to Afghanistan.

“Our mission seemed doomed,” Rivera said.

However, the unit rebounded and was able assist other units with various projects, such as helping deliver essential supplies to outlying bases in RC South and were tasked with conducting various security operations in and around KAF.

“We paved the way for army well drillers arriving into Afghanistan and we were vital to opening the eyes of the military to the need for well drilling units in Afghanistan,” Rivera said.

Sgt. Keith Davis Jr., the unit’s only medic, said, “the mission was great, but it’s even better to be back home.”

 Since his return on Saturday he has spent time catching up with his wife and 11-month-old son Keith III.

“I now get to spend time with him, which is great because he was born June 19, 2009, a month after we left.”

Lt. Rivera counts it a blessing that all members of his unit returned home safely.

“To God be the glory for this entire mission as He alone kept us out of harms way. It feels great to be part of such an endeavor; to be the first unit sent to do such a specialized mission as well drilling. This mission just goes in line with the honorable tradition of units from Live Oak. The Army could not have picked a more perfect place to choose a unit from to deploy to conduct such a fine mission.”