10 Sailors reunite with loved ones at Naval Station Mayport

MAYPORT, Fla. — Several families have waited nine months to be reunited with their loves ones.

Robert Brubaker was deployed when his little girl was eight months old. Now, she is looking forward to showing her dad—in person—just how far she can walk.

Her mother, Taylor Brubaker, said she and her husband have only talked on the phone five times in the last nine months. She said he was supposed to return in October, but instead missed the holidays. They now have a lot of celebrating to catch up on.

“So glad to be back home.” Robert Brubaker said. “So happy to look forward to getting to learn how much they’ve [the kids] grown over the past nine months.“

Families gathered on Friday at Naval Station Mayport with bright neon colored signs welcoming home their mom, dad, or loved one.

While deployed, sailors operated in the 5th Fleet area of operations. The group of air men and women were out at sea with the USS Abraham Lincoln and flew on a MH-60R detachment. They conducted strike group defense and flew more hours than any other Sea Hawk helicopter in history.

“It’s amazing. It’s incredible,” Taylor Brubaker said. “What these men and women do for us, and I think it’s forgotten. It’s not commercialized and not talked about how many families are doing this by themselves.”