Schofield Barracks helicopter crews who deployed to Pakistan in mid-October to provide earthquake relief recently returned to Afghanistan in preparation for a return home, a member of the unit said.

About 60 soldiers with the B Company, 214th Aviation Regiment "Hillclimbers" deployed to Rawalpindi near Islamabad, Pakistan, with four CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and flew daily relief missions to the quake-affected region of Kashmir to the north.

The 7.6-magnitude earthquake on Oct. 8 left millions homeless and killed an estimated 87,000 people.

The Hillclimbers were part of Task Force Quake, with Chinook crews from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas. A dozen of the twin-rotor helicopters from Kansas also were expected to participate in the relief effort, and the U.S. Navy and a host of foreign countries helped in the operation.

The Army said the Texas helicopter crews were expected to return home about a week ago.

A Hillclimbers member said they had arrived back at Bagram Airfield in Afghani-stan and were breaking down aircraft for airlift back home on Air Force cargo carriers as temperatures were dipping into the single digits in Pakistan.

The onset of the Himalayan winter has hampered helicopter relief efforts. No further information was available yesterday on the Hillclimbers' return.

Each day, the Hawai'i unit delivered 10,000 to 11,000 pounds of tents, blankets, food and stoves per helicopter mission, flying as much as an hour to the north to reach remote villages perched on mountain hillsides and to ferry refugees to city centers.

The Hillclimbers deployed with less than a week's notice, spent Thanksgiving in Pakistan, and are deploying to Iraq next summer. Many of the crew members returned in the spring from a year's deployment in Afghanistan.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.