Beckers welcome son home after Afghan tour

Margaret and Steven Becker of Brainerd will welcome home their son, Spec. Steven Mark Becker II, from a year-long deployment in Afghanistan on Friday. He is expected to arrive home, Friday, just in time to spend his 25th birthday with his family. Steven is an Infantry mortar man for the U.S. Army stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash. He has been with the 5th Brigade 2nd Battalion 1st Infantry Division since March 2007, after finishing basic training in Fort Benning, Ga.

While in Washington, Becker trained for his deployment, and was also chosen to attend a year-long course of Arabic language training. Here he learned to read, write, and speak Arabic. After finishing that course, he went through six months of Pashtu language training, before deploying to Afghanistan in July 2009.

Becker has a wife, Melissa Becker, along with three children, Paige, 6, Riley, 2, and Steven III, 9 months, who he will meet for the second time.