MC3 Jesse Awalt Members of the Navy Ceremonial Guard parade the national ensign in front of Sailors who have recently returned from individual augmentee duty Wednesday, April 30 at the Washington Navy Yard Catering and Conference Center. The sailors and their families were honored for their dedicated service with a parade, ceremony, and reception.

The IAs and their families toured the display ship ex-USS Barry before they were escorted by Rear Adm. Earl L. Gay, Naval District Washington commandant, Capt. George A. Chamberlain Jr., WNY commanding officer, and a color guard from the Ceremonial Guard, to the Catering and Conference Center. There they were duly honored for their sacrifice.

‘‘We missed you while you were gone,” Chamberlain told the augmentees during the ceremony. ‘‘We’re glad you are back.”

The IA deployments lasted from six months to more than a year. Sailors were assigned to various locations, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and Cuba.

More then 700,000 individual augmentations have occurred in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last six years, said Vice Adm. John G. Cotton, Chief of Naval Reserve.

The United States military will continue to deploy servicemembers throughout the world, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, ‘‘until the youngsters in those countries have the same advantages that we have,” said Cotton, who commands 70,000 naval personnel.

All Americans ‘‘serve in the militia of the United States of America,” he said. ‘‘Every one of us gives service to our nation, especially at the Navy Yard.”

The IAs had an opportunity to reflect on their deployments while they ate lunch with family and friends during the reception.

Cmdr. Larry Readal was the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) engineer for a year. The CJTF-HOA, a humanitarian assistance mission, is involved in the construction of wells, clinics and schools in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Seychelles and Comoros.

The CJTF-HOA was his first IA deployment, said Readal. Although Readal felt a year was a long time to be deployed, the CJTF-HOA was a good mission. ‘‘I’m a better person for having done it,” he said.

Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Ellia was also on his first IA deployment, which lasted nine months. He served as Joint CREW Composite Squadron-One liaison to the United States Central Command in Baghdad. CREW is the acronym for Counter Radio-controlled IED Electronic Warfare. Ellia’s work involved traveling to Afghanistan and Qatar as well.

During his IA deployment, Ellia said he had more opportunities to contact his family than he has had on non-IA duty assignments.

Enlisting in the Navy seven years ago, Yeoman 2nd Class Flotrice R. Spears hadn’t been deployed until she spent seven months on an IA deployment in Qatar. She served as the human intelligence reports officer.

Spears said she is a single-parent of a four-year-old son. ‘‘This was the first time I had ever been away from my son for even a 24-hour period,” she said.

The Navy – and the nation as a whole – appreciates the work the 19 Sailors did during their IA deployment, said Rear Adm. Julius S Caesar, reserve deputy commander for Commander Navy Installations Command, during the homecoming ceremony.

The other returning NSAW IAs were: Cryptologic Technician (Collection) 1st Class Benjamin Blake (Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan); Religious Programs Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Bostic (Baghdad, Iraq); Information Technician 1st Class Renard Coleman (Kabul, Afghanistan); Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Tungu S. Craver (Djibouti, Africa); Lt. Cmdr. Brian L. Emory (U. S. European Command); HM2 Eyob S. Hawaz ( Expeditionary Medical Forces Detachment II, Operation Enduring Freedom); Senior Chief Aerographers Mate Bruce Kitts (Kuwait); Cmdr. Dan Luers (Persian Gulf); Capt. Lance Mauro (Camp Arifjan, Kuwait); HM3 Larry Neely (Guantanamo Bay, Cuba); CTR1 (SW) Eric S. Pedri (Bagram AB); Cmdr. Richard Poeppelmeiser (Baghdad); Lt. Cmdr. Alan A. Rachel (Baghdad); Lt. j.g. Dominic Romanowski (Camp Virginia, Kuwait); Master at Arms 2nd Class Randal V. Sapp II (Guantanamo Bay); and CTR3 Molly A. Tuning (Bagram AB)for nine months.