A Monmouth man got a surprise as he prepared to return home after landing at Portland International Jetport.

Michael Gardner, an operations specialist in the U.S. Navy, stepped off the plane from his third tour overseas only to be greeted by several law enforcement vehicles from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office.

But Gardner had not run afoul of the law. On the contrary, the vehicles were there to give him a police-escorted ride to his mother’s house in Monmouth, where his family — including his two young sons — were waiting for him.

“I didn’t expect this at all,” Gardner said of the escorted ride. “But knowing these guys, who were off-duty, were taking time to do this means a lot. It’s great to see strangers doing things like this to support the military.”

The idea was Kennebec County Sheriff Sgt. Dan Davies. Gardner’s mother looks after Davies’ children, and the two men know each other fairly well.

“I wanted to honor him on behalf of the Sheriff’s office and got permission from (Kennebec County Sheriff) Randy Liberty to do so,” Davies said.

Gardner will be home for the Thanksgiving holiday, then will return overseas Dec. 4 to the Arab island country of Bahrain, where he assists Arab, Mediterranean and African countries recover from man-made and natural disasters.

He will return to the States permanently in February.