Army Specialist William B. Bates has returned to the U.S. after being deployed overseas at a forward operating base to serve in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Bates is a paratrooper assigned to the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. He has served in the military for two years.

He is the son of Robert and Monica Bates of Oakhurst and is a 2008 graduate of Yosemite High School.

Operation Enduring Freedom is the official name given to anti-terrorism military operations involving U.S. troops and allied coalition partners. Active duty and reserve component members from all branches of the U.S. armed forces have been deployed to support the war against global terrorism outside the borders of the United States. U.S. troops serve in South, Southwest and Central Asia, the Arabian peninsula, the Horn of Africa, islands in the Pacific, and Europe.