BOISE, Idaho — The 124th Fighter Wing is sending 300 airmen to southwest Asia to support in combat operations and peacekeeping missions.
This deployment will feature the A-10 Thunderbolt II flown by pilots with the 190th Fighter Squadron in the 124th Fighter Wing in the Idaho National Guard.
"Spirits are pretty high right now we have been working towards this for the past two year," said LT. Col Geoffrey Bauchman, a pilot with the call sign Verbal. "We have done lots of training, lots of traveling and spent time away from home at other bases to get ready for this so people are excited, we are ready."
We went out Gowen Field on Saturday morning to see the men and women off. The Airmen don't know exactly what they will be doing, but this deployment will center around the A-10 Thunderbolt II.
"The main mission we do is close air support so protecting our troops on the ground," said Col. Ryan Richardson, the 124th Fighter Wing Commander. "The A-10 is famous for the gun, everybody loves the gun on the airplane."
Lt. Col. Bauchman will fly the missions he's called upon, but he wouldn't be able to do it with the support team as many of the airmen head out on their first deployment.
"It’s huge, we don’t get to do what we do without all the people that are here to help make it happen," said Bauchman. "It’s not as simple as just jumping in the airplane and taking off. It takes quite a few people to get it ready, to fuel it, to load it with weapons so without all the people behind me and their sacrifice I wouldn’t be able to do what I do."
2nd LT. Ryan Poncia works as an aircraft maintenance officer and his team looks forward to doing their part to make this deployment successful. This deployment is expected to last for six months.
"Thank you to all the organizations that help put this together, it has definitely been a lot leading up to this," said Poncia. "Thank you to all the airmen that are deploying and thank you to all the families that are keeping everything together while we are gone."
Saying goodbye to family members is one of the hardest parts about deployment. Wing commander Ryan Richardson will stay behind to make sure those families are taken care of with the help of the community.
"I want to express my gratitude to the families that are making this sacrifice as well as the airmen and our community that gives us so much support," said Richardson. "The employers are the ones that really allow this to happen, 70 percent of our workforce has jobs in the community so it is a big impact to these employers. We will be here to take care of the families while they are gone."
The 124th Fighter Wing has deployed multiple times to southwest Asia over the years including it's largest deployment ever in 2020. They have also deployed four other times to the Middle East dating back to 2003.
