148th deploys for third time

The 148th Fighter Wing of the Minnesota Air National Guard is being redeployed to Belad Air Force Base in Iraq this fall for the third time in four years.

International Falls resident Brian Briggs is the ANG state command chief, the highest ranking non commissioned officer, and said that neither he, nor his daughter, who serves in Duluth, will be part of this deployment.

Billy Dunbar of the Falls, a member of the 148th who is now working fulltime with the unit, will be deployed in December, noted Briggs.

This is the third deployment to Iraq for Dunbar. His elder brother, Guy Dunbar, also served with distinction in the U.S. Army in Iraq and passed away two months after returning home in September 2005.

This will also be the third Iraq deployment for the 148th. The first was in 2005 and the second in 2007. Approximately 300 of the 1,000 airman and women of the 148th will serve in Iraq for tours of a month to 90 days. The tours, brief in comparison with the other services, is standard Air Expeditionary Force policy regarding Air National Guard units, according to Briggs.

“It’s a different construct than the Army,” he added. “It is done in a way to minimize the impact that the individual has with their absence from employers and gives them a sense of predictability when they will go.”

The peacetime mission is to respond to state and local emergencies at the request of the governor. The federal, wartime mission is air-to-ground combat and delivering guided and unguided bombs. Briggs said the unit trains during weekend drills to prepare.

“When the Army is going in to do a job they rely on the guys in the F-16 for cover,” he said. “They can call on an F-16 in any situation to do the mission, which is usually to put bombs on target.”

It helps that they are consistently rated among the best units of its type and Briggs said that recruiting and retention rates remain high.

Briggs said that the 148th is doing all the right things to complete its mission in Iraq, but that it also has to continue to prove the relevance and credibility of its mission in Duluth. He said they work to convince legislators and command leadership of the long term mission need for the 400-acre base located at the Duluth International Airport with a 10,000-foot runway.

The airport has plenty of updated infrastructure, including a new maintenance hanger completed just eight months ago, said Briggs. The lengthy runway and low use of the airport also helps the cause when compared to other congested bases.

“We have more airspace than anyone and have the real estate to extend the mission if we need to,” he added.

The Duluth air base started in 1948 with the activation of the 179th Fighter Squadron. The 148th Fighter Group was formed in 1960 and operated until the active duty air base closed in 1983.

The Minnesota ANG took over a new mission with high altitude interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft during the Cold War. It was designated the 148th Fighter Wing in the 1990s with F-16A fighters, and an expanded mission into other peacekeeping roles.

The 148th F-16C fighter jets have been in use since 2002, making it the oldest fleet, said Briggs, noting they want a new mission to include newer F-16s until the new Lockheed Martin F-35 “Lightning II”, is deployed. The stealth fighter with vertical landing and short take off capability that can perform multiple roles, from air support to tactical bombing and air to air combat missions.