Air Force wing heads overseas

MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho – Sixty members of a U.S. Air Force fighter wing from Idaho are heading overseas, but military officials declined to say where they are going.

The service men and women, normally stationed at the Mountain Home Air Base with the 366th Fighter Wing, are being deployed to bases throughout the Middle East and Asia.

These are the first of what will likely be 700 members – out of about 4,500 people stationed at the southern Idaho base – who will be deployed over the next few weeks.

“It’ll be 100 here, 200 there and so on,” said 1st Lt. Mike Chillstrom, who declined to give specifics on where the service members will be deployed.

Air Force officials say these deployments are normal and have been planned for some time.

Once overseas, they’ll work in a variety of jobs to assist a country at war. Missions will include transportation, computer services and medical support, Chillstrom said.