Illinois National Guard Heads to Libya

[The Northerner]

An Air National Guard unit based out of Illinois is heading to Libya to help fight against Colonel Gaddafi.

"I am proud that the National Guard is able to play a part in curbing the atrocious violence against Libyan civilians by their own government,” said Maj. Gen. William L. Enyart, the Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard, in a statement.

The unit based out of Scott Air Force Base in southwest Illinois specializes in refueling aircraft in mid-air and will join the mission to establish a no-fly zone over Libya.

The 126th Air Refueling Wing and its 906th air Refueling Squadron fly the KC-135-R Stratotanker, which is the military version of the Boeing 707.

The aircraft is able to offload nearly 200,000 pounds of fuel to another aircraft while traveling at more than 500 miles per hour in mid-air, according to the Illinois National Guard.

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Ill-Air-National-Guard-Unit-Deployed-to-Libya-118359004.html?dr#ixzz1HFQy9pq0

[grasswire]

1. and away we go

[Monique1]

2. The thread should read different

Reads that the National Guard is heading to be on the ground in Libya, they are involved in refueling aircraft.

[quinnox]

7. That is the exact title the news story has at the link

So take it up with MSNBC if you don't like the title. Not sure why you were so quick to jump on it anyway, the title is 100% accurate.

[MineralMan]

3. I'm thinking they will not actually be in Libya at all.

I'm pretty sure they won't even be flying in Libyan airspace. The title is a bit misleading.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. Just like our aircraft carriers didn't go "into" Iraq or Vietnam

yet somehow things still got blown up.

They're going to the Libya theater of operations, that's good enough. Or bad enough.

We are not yet putting U.S. troops' boots on the ground. Maybe. Gotta check the wording real carefully.

:hi:

[SoCalDem]

6. Yep they will end up in Italy, probably...and many of them will probably LIKE

this deployment.

Many people are of the mistaken opinion that soldiers "usually" object to being deployed...While they DO object to being MULTIPLY-deployed to war zones, the act of doing what they train for is often just what they want to do.

For many soldiers, the stateside stuff is like "training camp", and many (most?) of them look forward to actually USING their training. The general public often does not "get it". Parents hope that when their child joins the service, they never see "action", but the soldier may have joined TO see "action".:(

[Scuba]

5. Next three units in line...

University of Oregon Marching Band

Power Memorial Academy (NYC) Gymnastics Team and Science Club (combined)

Boy Scout Troop 211 - Up Creek, USA