Minnesota Reservists Return from SW Asia Deployment

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — More than 100 Air Force reservists have returned to Minnesota following their service in Southwest Asia.

The 934th Airlift Wing members were greeted by family and friends when they got back to Minneapolis Sunday evening.

It was a special tour of duty for one reservist — Lt. Alicia Makoutz. She became the only female pilot in the Minnesota Air Force Reserves to fly a C-130 cargo plane. The 28-year-old Makoutz was a senior airman working on the ground, but this time she was up in the air, reaching her goal.

Her father, Jim Perry, tells the Star Tribune that he used to think his daughter loved the movie "Top Gun" because Tom Cruise was in it, but it was really because she wanted to fly.

The unit was deployed for four months.