29 National Guard airmen return Friday from SW Asia deployment
Twenty-nine Airmen from the St. Paul-based 133rd Airlift Wing of the Minnesota Air National Guard will return to Minnesota this Friday afternoon following a two-month deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The returning Airmen departed for Afghanistan in early May aboard one of the Wing’s eight C-130 “Hercules” aircraft.
The C-130 “Hercules” provides support to many military operations, including airdrop or airland delivery of critical supplies, equipment and personnel to remote airfields and to areas not easily reached by ground transportation. Another mission of the C-130 is aeromedical evacuation of wounded service members, where trained medical personnel provide timely, life-saving medical care while patients are transported via C-130 to a medical facility.
The Wing also launched three C-130s and Airmen earlier in July from the Minneapolis, St. Paul International Airport to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. This is the second wave of deployments Airmen and aircraft to Afghanistan this year.
In addition, early Friday, July 9, the 133rd Airlift Wing deployed 30 members of their Security Forces Squadron to Iraq where they will be supporting Operation New Dawn for six months.
Throughout the month of July, the 133rd Airlift Wing will deploy over 130 Airmen and four C-130 aircraft overseas while approximately 75 Airmen complete their missions and return home to their family and friends.
The over 350 Airmen deploying from the 133rd Airlift Wing throughout 2010 include aircrew members, maintenance personnel, security forces, chaplain staff and many others.
In 2009, 133rd Airlift Wing deployed more than 700 Airmen to 16 countries in support of U.S. operations worldwide. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Wing has deployed over 4,600 Airmen to locations around the world in support of the Global War on Terrorism.
The St. Paul-based 133rd Airlift Wing is comprised of approximately 1,250 men and women who serve in support of state and national needs.
