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Abroad, they most recently assisted with a peacekeeping mission treating injured UN soldiers and transporting them to hospital in northern Mali and helping peacekeepers reach remote areas of the country. Before that, the squad spent 15 months supporting Canadian efforts in Iraq.

“In terms of a unit and wanting to have everybody on the same page and breeding a culture of operational excellence, it’s great to have everyone here and baseline our collective experiences of those guys that deployed to Iraq and those that deployed to Mali,” said Morrison.

Now that everyone is home, the squadron will take part in a celebration known as Freedom of the City, which dates back to 15th century England when military units were required to request access and share their motives to move through cities during the War of the Roses. While marching, they will display their newly bestowed battle honours from Afghanistan for the first time.

“It’s the first time we’ve had the opportunity to exercise Freedom of the City here in Edmonton since we were initially awarded it in 2001,” said Morrison. “This is our first chance to troupe the (battle honour) in the city publicly, so that’s a tremendous honour. As well, the 75th anniversary of D-Day, of which 408 squadron participated.”

The march will take place on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. For Morrison, who has spent 12 years on and off with the 408 Squadron, the march will also serve as last hurrah as he finishes his two-year term as the head of the fleet later this summer.

dshort@postmedia.com