Amid growing tensions in the Middle East, Connecticut’s Air National Guard troops are heading overseas.
On June 18th, a ceremony to commemorate the deployment of nearly 150 members of the 103rd Airlift Wing was held at the Bradley Air National Guard Base hangar.
Governor Ned Lamont and Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz both provided words of gratitude and support to the troops as they prepared to embark on their tour. “Your deployment and support of operations in Southwest Asia is a great sacrifice, but your mission is vital,” said Bysiewicz. “Many of you have seen first hand how hard it is to do your jobs under constant risk and threat. We appreciate what you are about to do for us.”
For some of the airmen it will be their first deployment. “I’m pretty anxious, you know I’m pretty excited to go,” said Technical Sergeant Brian Figueroa. “I’m all about new experiences so I’m just excited to go out there and just help as much as I can.”
This will be the second largest deployment for Connecticut’s 103rd Airlift Wing, also known as the Flying Yankees, since converting to the heavy lift C-130 Hercules aircraft in 2013. The country the military members will be deploying to in southwest Asia hasn’t been revealed.