250 to deploy from Seymour Johnson
By Turner Walston
Published in News on January 15, 2006 2:12 AM
Members of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base are deploying this month for Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.
By the end of January, more than 400 airmen from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base will have deployed to more than a dozen locations throughout Southwest Asia in continuing support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The airmen are part of Air Expeditionary Forces 9 and 10, and will deploy for approximately 120 days. F-15E Strike Eagles from the 336th Fighter Squadron are being deployed as the lead unit.
Monday morning, approximately 250 airmen will process through the Personnel Deployment Facility to finalize all of their deployment matters and paperwork, including wills, family care plans, immunization records and weapons qualifications.
Then Monday afternoon, the airmen will board a chartered passenger jet to make the journey. The jets are scheduled to follow later in the week.
Capt. Ed Colfer, a weapons system officer with the 336th, said he is excited about his second deployment. Colfer previously deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom two years ago.
"Having been there before, knowing the work we'll be doing and the benefits and the results of our work, I'm very excited to be going."
Colfer said he is mindful of how his role fits into the war as a whole, but prefers to take things one mission at a time.
"I'm going there to do a job, and that's my sole focus. It's what I do during my flight that counts. I'm going to be conscious of who we are and what we're representing, but from takeoff to landing, I'm strictly focused on the task at hand."
Colfer will leave behind a wife and two-year-old son, but he said he's excited to represent his country and the United States Air Force in Southwest Asia.
"I can't wait," he said.