Ky Air National Guard deploying overseas Monday for airlift mission
05:29 PM EDT on Sunday, August 16, 2009
NEWS RELEASE
(LOUISVILLE, KY.)
Seventy-two Kentucky Air Guardsmen are deploying overseas aboard two
Kentucky Air Guard C-130s on Monday, Aug. 17, to fly airlift missions in
support of U.S. military operations around the world.
The Airmen, all assigned to the 123rd Airlift Wing here, will operate from
Ramstein Air Base, Germany, but will fly sorties across Europe and Africa as
part of OPERATION JOINT ENTERPRISE, said Col. Greg Nelson, wing commander.
The Kentucky Airmen also may fly troops and cargo into Iraq and Afghanistan
if operational needs dictate.
They are scheduled to return home Sept. 5.
OPERATION JOINT ENTERPRISE is similar to several other airlift missions
supported by Kentucky Air Guardsmen in the past decade. It grew out of an
operation to fly troops and supplies into Bosnia-Herzegovina in the
mid-1990s, and was later expanded to include support of missions across
Europe, Africa and the Central Command Area of Responsibility, which
includes Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Kentucky Air Guard has now sent Airmen and aircraft to Germany more than
a half-dozen times since the 1990s to support OPERATION JOINT ENTERPRISE and
its predecessor campaigns, each time staffing the deployments with an
all-volunteer cadre of troops, Colonel Nelson said.
This latest deployment marks the second major overseas mission for the 123rd
Airlift Wing this year. About 200 Kentucky Airmen and multiple Kentucky Air
Guard C-130s were deployed to Afghanistan in March, April and May in support
of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. During that mission, Kentucky troops flew
more than 1,500 combat sorties to deliver approximately 6,000 tons of cargo
to forward operating bases in the Central Command Area of Responsibility.
The Kentucky Airmen also air-dropped vital equipment and supplies to U.S.
and coalition forces on the ground, and transported more than 20,000
Soldiers across the theater of operations.
“The 123rd Airlift Wing has been actively engaged in nearly every major
overseas contingency operation for more than a decade, and our current
commitment is no different,” Colonel Nelson said. “At the same time, we’re
also providing key support to the Commonwealth of Kentucky by responding to
natural disasters like this year’s statewide ice storm or the Aug. 4
flooding at home in Louisville.
“Name a mission, and we’re most likely playing a vital role, whether it be
homeland defense or overseas contingency operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and
elsewhere. That is a testament to the men and women of the 123rd Airlift
Wing, who are always ready to answer the call to duty, anytime, anywhere.”
Besides Monday’s deployment, the 123rd Airlift Wing currently has an
additional 74 Kentucky Airmen deployed around the world in support of
multiple U.S. military operations.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 10,000 members of the Kentucky Army and Air
National Guard have deployed worldwide.
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