Montana ANG "Vigilantes" return from deployment

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Montana Air National Guard "Vigilantes" return from deployment
Updated: Mar 08, 2017 12:11 AM GST
By: Margaret DeMarco
KRTV.com

GREAT FALLS - Dozens of airmen with the Montana Air National Guard are now back home with their loved ones after their first major deployment since the 120th Airlift Wing transitioned from fighter jets to C-130 cargo planes.

This was the airmen's first large-scale deployment since completing the two and a half year conversion process in October.

During the deployment, the Guardsmen were assigned to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing and participated in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

MSgt Jason Caldwell of the 120th Maintenance Squadron said, "This deployment was the best deployment I have been on. As far as where we were at, it was probably the most any one of us had flown in that period of time. It was really busy, busy deployment."

Flight crews delivered supplies and personnel throughout the region to military units fighting ISIS.

MSgt Caldwell said, "I told every one of our workers and everybody around you should not go home and feel like you didn't do what you went here to do. We accomplished everything and then some."

Caldwell says that they flew a lot with the fighters but with how they were preforming mission they were just as busy or busier with the C-130’s.

The mission often required the C-130 crews to operate in dangerous regions, but crewmembers say the airmen went above and beyond to successfully complete their mission.

CMSgt Steven Lynch, the 120th Airlift Wing Command Chief, explained that the MT ANG is flying one of the oldest versions of the C-130’s, and he is proud of what the men and women did on their first time on deployment with this mission.

Chief Lynch said, "We were able to provide every damned signal for our operation side. Delivering record amount of cargo, record amount of personnel, flew a record amount of hours, and our maintenance stats. The ability of our maintenance folks to provide the resources to our operations was outstanding."

SMSgt Mike Donahue of the 120th Operational Support Squadron noted, "As Montanans, that's what we do. We try to go and show who we are and what we are made of. To have a chip on our shoulder, go do the job, and do the best we can. This job, you are always learning, and we learned a ton. This is just going to compound for later. We are just going to keep getting better and better."

Caldwell and Donahue have both been with the Montana Air National Guard as they have moved from F-16s, to the F-15s, and now the C-130 Hercules.

“It was different for me because of my career field. I was a maintainer then and now I am actually overseeing. For me it was different to be at a lot of the meetings, answering a lot of questions and trying to relay everything down to the worker level,” Caldwell said.

Video: http://www.krtv.com/clip/13156532/monta ... deployment

Source: http://www.krtv.com/story/34689971/mont ... ment-video

USAF C-130H #74-1688 from 186th AS (737th EAS) taxis down the runway at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia on February 8, 2017. The 737th, made up of Airmen deployed from the 120th AW, supports Operation Inherent Resolve. [USAF photo by TSgt. Kenneth McCann]

USAF C-130H #74-1671 from 186 AS (737th EAS) taxis down the runway at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia on February 8, 2017. The 737th, made up of Airmen deployed from the 120th AW, supports Operation Inherent Resolve. [USAF photo by TSgt. Kenneth McCann]