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Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., June 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Clayton Wear)

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Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Jun. 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibiitly, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)

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Staff Sgt. Zachary Welsh, a crew chief with the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, takes a photo with his girlfriend at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., June 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Clayton Wear)

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Master Sgt. Nathaniel Welsh, the communications and navigation shop chief for the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Maintenance Squadron, bumps fists with a fellow Airman at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., June 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Clayton Wear)

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200624-Z-XJ735-0062

Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., June 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Clayton Wear)

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A Kentucky Air National Guard Airman holds his child before deploying to the Persian Gulf region at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Jun. 24, 2020. More than 70 Airmen from the wing will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibiitly, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)

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200624-Z-JU667-0233

Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Jun. 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibiitly, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)

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200624-Z-XJ735-0064

Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., June 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Clayton Wear)

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Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Jun. 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibiitly, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)

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A 123rd Airlift Wing C-130 Hercules takes off from the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Jun. 24, 2020, deploying to the Persian Gulf Region. Airmen onboard will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)

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200624-Z-XJ735-0057

Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., June 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Clayton Wear)

Photo Details / Download Hi-Res
200624-Z-XJ735-0075

Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., June 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Clayton Wear)

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Airman First Class Tanner Soward (center), an aviation resource manager from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Operation Support Squadron, gets his picture taken with his family before deploying to the Persian Gulf region at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Jun. 24, 2020. More than 70 Airmen from the wing will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)

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Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Jun. 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibiitly, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)

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200624-Z-XJ735-0081

Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., June 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Clayton Wear)

Photo Details / Download Hi-Res
200624-Z-XJ735-0166

Members of the 123rd Airlift Wing board a C-130 Hercules aircraft at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., June 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Clayton Wear)

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200624-Z-XJ735-0018

Staff Sgt. Zachary Welsh, a crew chief with the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, visits with his girlfriend at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., June 24, 2020, prior to deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The Airmen will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Clayton Wear)

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200624-Z-JU667-0059

Staff Sgt. Andrew Adams, an aerospace ground equipment technician with the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Maintenance Squadron, talks with his wife Sara Adams before deploying to the Persian Gulf region at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Jun. 24, 2020. More than 70 Airmen from the 123rd Airlift Wing will spend four months flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Iraq, Afghanistan and northern Africa. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)

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Kentucky Air Guardsmen deploy to Persian Gulf region

Published June 24, 2020
By Master Sgt. Phil Speck
123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- More than 70 members of the 123rd Airlift Wing here deployed to the Persian Gulf today in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

The Airmen departed from the Kentucky Air National Guard Base aboard two C-130 Hercules aircraft and are expected to be overseas about four months, said Col. David Mounkes, wing commander.

They will operate from an undisclosed air base while flying troops and cargo across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Afghanistan and the Middle East.

"The 123rd Airlift Wing has been supporting overseas operations for many years, and today we continue that support by sending the very finest of our service members overseas," Mounkes said. "I know they will represent the Kentucky Air Guard and the commonwealth of Kentucky well.

"A special thank you to the family members and civilian employers of these Guardsmen for their support; we could not do this without it."

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