Emotions and pride ran high as the sun was coming up over Gowen Field on Saturday, as families and friends waved goodbye to just over 300 Airmen from the 124th Fighter Wing of the Idaho Air National Guard.
For security reasons, the Pentagon doesn’t release too many details at deployment; that said, the Guard did say the Airmen were headed for southwest Asia (i.e. the Middle East) “in support of combat and peacekeeping operations within the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility.”
Command Chief Master Sergeant Lehi Hartwell knows all too well about deployments. He’s been on nine himself.
“I always pass on to our Airmen that a deployment is where you get to do your actual job” said Hartwell. “Every weekend we drill… we prepare to go and actually do our job. There are stresses to it. But when we go and deploy, we overcome those stressed by getting hands-on… well, everything.”
But then there is the very real issue of leaving their loved ones back home.
“I think the biggest stresses we have is leaving our loved ones and our civilian jobs in Idaho,” said Hartwell. “But we have a lot of resources. We have a Yellow Ribbon program that we walk through. And there are plenty of us at home that are well positioned to take care of that for them.”
The 124th Fighter Wing has deployed often in recent memory – twice in 2003, plus in 2007, 2008, 2016, the largest in 2020, and others. Nearly 1,300 Airmen comprise the Idaho Air National Guard.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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