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F-16 Block 50 to deploy to Afghanistan
June 29, 2012
Nearly 300 members of Duluth’s 148th Fighter Wing will deploy to Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, for two months beginning in August to provide close-air support to ground troops.
Nearly 300 members of Duluth’s 148th Fighter Wing will deploy to Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, for two months beginning in August to provide close-air support to ground troops.
The deployment will mark several firsts for the 148th. It will be the wing’s first overseas deployment with its new Block 50 F-16s. It also will be the first time the 148th has sent an aviation package — planes, pilots, maintenance and support personnel — to Afghanistan. And it will be the first time 179th Fighter Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Chris Blomquist will be in command in combat.
He said he considers the deployment an honor and an opportunity.
“I am looking forward to helping the troops on the ground and to a safe return of all our people,” he said after a Thursday morning news conference at the base announcing the deployment.
“I have the best and the brightest working for me; that should make the job easier,” he said.
After receiving the first of the new fighters in April 2010, the wing’s pilots began learning how to fly SEAD and DEAD missions — military acronyms pronounced “seed” and “deed” — standing for Suppression of Enemy Air Defense and Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses.The new missions required 148th pilots to switch from a mindset of dropping bombs to support ground forces to destroying or jamming air defenses to allow other planes to perform that task safely.
Earlier this year, after nearly two years of training in the new fighters and shortly after an intensive three-week combat training exercise, the 148th was declared mission-capable.
“After two years mastering the Block 50 F-16 and the Suppression of Enemy Air Defense mission, the Air Force has tasked our wing to deploy,” Col. Frank Stokes, 148th Fighter Wing Commander, said.
For this deployment, however, the wing’s mission remains one it has done for years — directly supporting ground troops.
In addition to the Afghanistan deployment, the 148th will continue to send small groups to Southwest Asia to help with ongoing missions, Blomquist said.
Members of the 148th deployed overseas a number of times in recent years before receiving the Block 50s, including deployments of planes, pilots and support personnel to Joint Base Balad in Iraq in 2005, 2007 and 2008.
“It’s going to be a new challenge for us,” Roningen said of flying in Afghanistan. “Since we have not been in that location, we will rely on our experiences in Iraq. We’ll be fine.”
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/235608/
June 29, 2012
Nearly 300 members of Duluth’s 148th Fighter Wing will deploy to Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, for two months beginning in August to provide close-air support to ground troops.
Nearly 300 members of Duluth’s 148th Fighter Wing will deploy to Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, for two months beginning in August to provide close-air support to ground troops.
The deployment will mark several firsts for the 148th. It will be the wing’s first overseas deployment with its new Block 50 F-16s. It also will be the first time the 148th has sent an aviation package — planes, pilots, maintenance and support personnel — to Afghanistan. And it will be the first time 179th Fighter Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Chris Blomquist will be in command in combat.
He said he considers the deployment an honor and an opportunity.
“I am looking forward to helping the troops on the ground and to a safe return of all our people,” he said after a Thursday morning news conference at the base announcing the deployment.
“I have the best and the brightest working for me; that should make the job easier,” he said.
After receiving the first of the new fighters in April 2010, the wing’s pilots began learning how to fly SEAD and DEAD missions — military acronyms pronounced “seed” and “deed” — standing for Suppression of Enemy Air Defense and Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses.The new missions required 148th pilots to switch from a mindset of dropping bombs to support ground forces to destroying or jamming air defenses to allow other planes to perform that task safely.
Earlier this year, after nearly two years of training in the new fighters and shortly after an intensive three-week combat training exercise, the 148th was declared mission-capable.
“After two years mastering the Block 50 F-16 and the Suppression of Enemy Air Defense mission, the Air Force has tasked our wing to deploy,” Col. Frank Stokes, 148th Fighter Wing Commander, said.
For this deployment, however, the wing’s mission remains one it has done for years — directly supporting ground troops.
In addition to the Afghanistan deployment, the 148th will continue to send small groups to Southwest Asia to help with ongoing missions, Blomquist said.
Members of the 148th deployed overseas a number of times in recent years before receiving the Block 50s, including deployments of planes, pilots and support personnel to Joint Base Balad in Iraq in 2005, 2007 and 2008.
“It’s going to be a new challenge for us,” Roningen said of flying in Afghanistan. “Since we have not been in that location, we will rely on our experiences in Iraq. We’ll be fine.”
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/235608/
