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107th FS return from Iraq
March 6, 2007 (by
Asif Shamim) -
Michigan Air National Guardsmen returned home after serving approximately 45 days with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad airbase, 40 miles north of Baghdad.
Nearly 250 guardsmen and women from the 127th FW based Selfridge Air National Guard Base returned home to friends and family on Monday.
Pilots, maintenance and support team members walked off a chartered civilian jetliner. They were greeted by cheering relatives wearing red, white and blue at the base dining hall.
Col. Kurt Schroeder an F-16 pilot was met by his family, who were vying for his attention.
"When you are gone, it's family back home (you miss) and how much they are growing," said Schroeder, on his second deployment to Iraq.
"We went to a different location, but we were doing the same mission: helping the guys on the ground," he said. "Every time we went up, we were in contact with the guys on the ground, looking for (improvised explosive devices) or bad guys."
In this deployment, the Red Devils, flew combat missions including Close Air Support (CAS) for coalition ground forces in the battle of An Najaf. During that battle, January 28, more than 200 enemy combatants were killed and 100 were captured.
The 107th Fighter Squadron was the first F-16 unit to be based in Iraq at Kirkuk Air Base, in 2004. It is currently unknown whether the squadron will be deployed again in the near future.
Twelve F-16 Fighting Falcons including some from 127th FW returned March 2, 2007 to Selfridge ANGB in Michigan after serving in support of OIF.
Pilots, maintenance and support team members walked off a chartered civilian jetliner. They were greeted by cheering relatives wearing red, white and blue at the base dining hall.
Col. Kurt Schroeder an F-16 pilot was met by his family, who were vying for his attention.
"When you are gone, it's family back home (you miss) and how much they are growing," said Schroeder, on his second deployment to Iraq.
"We went to a different location, but we were doing the same mission: helping the guys on the ground," he said. "Every time we went up, we were in contact with the guys on the ground, looking for (improvised explosive devices) or bad guys."
In this deployment, the Red Devils, flew combat missions including Close Air Support (CAS) for coalition ground forces in the battle of An Najaf. During that battle, January 28, more than 200 enemy combatants were killed and 100 were captured.
The 107th Fighter Squadron was the first F-16 unit to be based in Iraq at Kirkuk Air Base, in 2004. It is currently unknown whether the squadron will be deployed again in the near future.
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- Selfridge ANG units begin new Iraqi mission (2007-01-18)
- Selfridge's 107th Squadron named 'best of the best' (2005-10-22)
- Air Guard Squadron makes mark in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2004-08-25)
- US Air National Guard 107th Fighter Squadron pilots return from Iraq (2004-06-04)
- F-16 Fighting Falcon news archive
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