Fighter Jet News

F-16 Fighting Falcon News

Des Moines Air Guard deploys to Gulf

July 1, 2005 (by Lieven Dewitte) - About 400 members of the Iowa Air National Guard from Des Moines are being deployed to the Persian Gulf region to fly F-16s in support of U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq.

124th FS (Jon Somerville collection)

The airmen serve with the 132nd Fighter Wing, based at the Des Moines airport. About 350 members of the unit are being assigned to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, while about 50 airmen will serve in Iraq or other countries where they are needed.

The primary assignment of the 132nd Fighter Wing in Qatar will be to help U.S. ground forces in Iraq, but the unit could also launch aircraft in support of American combat troops in Afghanistan if necessary, said Col. Gregory Schwab, the wing's commanding officer.

Qatar is on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf, bordering Saudi Arabia.

Unlike Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers - who typically are mobilized for about 15 months of active duty - the Air National Guard members will have a much shorter tour overseas.

The Iowa airmen, all volunteers, will serve one to four months in the Gulf. Most will come home after about 45 days overseas, officials said.

The Iowa unit is part of a 120-day rotation of Air National Guard units in the Gulf region that also includes fighter wings from Toledo, Ohio, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Pilots from the 132nd Fighter Wing already have experience flying over Iraq. Between 1996 and 2002, the unit was deployed six times to Turkey and Kuwait to patrol "no-fly" zones over Iraq.

The 132d Fighter Wing has both an air-to-air and air-to-ground mission. The entire unit consists of approximately 1000 individuals its toots can be traced back to February, 1941 with the establishment of the 124th Observation Squadron. The unit at that time had 110 men, 27 officers (15 pilots), and 5 aircraft.

Over the last 54 years, the 132d Fighter Wing has participated in numerous actions including World War II, the Korean Conflict, and many of the support functions of Desert Shield/Desert Storm.