The Idaho Air National Guard deployed A-10s and hundreds of airmen last week to the Middle East, where they will likely support Iraqi and Kurdish ground forces battling the Islamic State. It's the state Guard's largest deployment since Afghanistan in 2008.
The Idaho Air National Guard set records when it deployed A-10s and hundreds of airmen last week for missions against the Islamic State — its largest since deploying to Afghanistan in 2008.
More than 500 members from the the 124th Fighter Wing out of Boise, including "pilots, maintenance technicians, medical personnel, security forces and support staff," will spend roughly 180 days in the Middle East for combat operations against ISIS, according to an Air Force release.
The 124th normally has around 1,000 part-time personnel, Maj. Chris Borders, spokesman for the wing, told the Idaho Statesman.
The number of aircraft and exact location in the Middle East where the aircraft will be based was not disclosed. The mission will include "multiple departures spread out over the next several months," but did not specify if those departures were to return home, or to other locations in theater.
Dispatching more A-10s to the ISIS fight could spark further conversation about its worth in modern-day conflicts.
A-10s have released almost as many weapons as the F-16 since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve, according to Air Forces Central Command statistics. The aircraft flies 17 percent of all Air Force sorties in theater, but still takes to the skies almost as much as its the F-16 (22 percent) and the F-15E (20 percent)fighter jet counterparts.
In November, the Thunderbolts helped destroy a lump sum of the Islamic State's oil and cash reserves near Abu Kamal, Syria.
"We did a show of force … by, we had aircraft essentially buzz the trucks at low altitude," Inherent Resolve spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said of the strikes, which at the time destroyed 116 tanker trucks.
the Arizona Republicans said.
Oriana Pawlyk covers deployments, cyber, Guard/Reserve, uniforms, physical training, crime and operations in the Middle East and Europe for Air Force Times. She was the Early Bird Brief editor in 2015. Email her at opawlyk@airforcetimes.com.
