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MCENTIRE JOINT NATIONAL GUARD BASE, S.C. (AP) -- Some 300 members of South Carolina's Air National Guard have returned home after a four-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Air Guard spokesman Maj. James Roth said that the airmen from the 169th Fighter Wing arrived Wednesday at McEntire Joint National Guard Base east of Columbia.

Roth says the deployment was the largest for the unit since Operation Desert Storm and the fourth major deployment for its pilots and F-16s since 2002.

In 2002, the unit flew more than 200 combat missions in the early days of the Afghan campaign.

The unit deployed in April with pilots, maintenance specialists and support staff. The unit provided fighter support to ground units in Afghanistan.