Two Wisconsin National Guard units - the Monroe-based 64th Rear Operations Center and the Oshkosh-based 1157th Transportation Company - mobilized in September 2002 for missions at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, though portions of each unit would also head over to Afghanistan during their deployment. Bush announces plan to rebuild Afghanistan 21, 2001: Interim Afghan government is sworn inĪpril 17, 2002: President George W. They would improve and maintain facilities, mostly at Kandahar, Afghanistan, for U.S. In October, 12 members of the Richland Center-based 829th Engineer Detachment would deploy to Afghanistan, where Operation Enduring Freedom had already begun. 7, 2001: US begins operations in Afghanistan 20, additional volunteers deployed to Moron Air Base in Spain and other locations, as part of expeditionary combat support. 12, 2001, refueling fighter jets on patrol in support of what would become Operation Noble Eagle. Volunteers from the Milwaukee-based 128th Air Refueling Wing performed three federal missions as early as Sept. “I don’t think anyone ever envisioned being used in the defense of the homeland,” Ebben said. Standing on the flight line that evening was strangely eerie with the skies quiet, but essentially combat operations underway as nobody knew the extent of what might happen.”Įbben said the fighter wing had contingency plans for arming aircraft with combat munitions, but in the context of entering a foreign theater of operations. By that evening, aircraft were being loaded with munitions that had been transported from Volk Field. “The unit hadn’t pulled alert since the early ‘70s in the F-102. Gary Ebben, who was vice-commander of the Madison-based 115th Fighter Wing at the time. 11 we were contacted by 1st Air Force and asked to get some aircraft and air crews on alert,” said retired Brig. The Taliban allowed Al Qaeda to operate out of Afghanistan. 11, 2001, as well as crashing another airliner near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
It didn’t take long for the Wisconsin National Guard to get involved in what would become the Global War on Terror, after the terrorist organization Al Qaeda flew commercial airliners into the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon on Sept. With the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s Volk Field having served in the closing chapter of the United States’ involvement in Afghanistan as a transit center for aircraft bringing Afghan evacuees to Fort McCoy, it’s worth looking back at the Wisconsin National Guard’s involvement in the nation’s longest war. Hokanson, National Guard Bureau chief, Aug. And we never lost sight of our duty as Citizen Soldiers and Airmen.” - Gen. We did not choose these battles, but we fought them all the same. We fought to uphold our nation’s values and our American way of life. We fought to bring hope and freedom to the people of Afghanistan. “More than a generation of Americans fought so our nation would not live in fear. We will continue to proudly wear the cloth of our nation, and remember the heroism and sacrifices made by so many, including our Gold Star families. “We are forever grateful to the men and women who served in Afghanistan, and the families who supported them. The past two decades have not been an easy chapter in our nation’s history, nor has it been without setbacks and sacrifices … Our National Guard support to the military mission in Afghanistan is now complete. “Yesterday, the last of our service members in Afghanistan started their journey home.
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