Des Moines Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Iowa Air National Guard 132d Fighter Wing.
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Overview
The 132d Wing, located at the Des Moines Air National Guard Base, can trace its roots back to February, 1941 with the establishment of the 124th Observation Squadron. The unit at that time had 110 men, 27 officers (15 pilots), and 5 aircraft. Over the last 68 years, the 132d Fighter Wing has participated in numerous actions including World War II, the Korean War, and many of the support functions of Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom.
The unit first entered the jet age in 1953 with the F-80. Several conversions followed with the unit flying the F-84, F-86, F-89, F-100, and the A-7 aircraft. The latest conversion to the F-16C aircraft occurred in 1992. The unit has received numerous awards, including eight Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards, and has participated in exercises and deployments worldwide.
The 132d also played a key role in the recovery efforts during the 1993 and 2008 flooding in the Des Moines area, providing logistics and personnel support to the relief operations.
The BRAC 2005 Commission recommended the establishment of 18 F-16s at Des Moines Air National Guard Base. With the 2013 departure of the 132d Fighter Wing's F-16s, the unit diversified its missions, expanding to include RPA, ISR and cyber warfare units. While this created some debate over the base's status as an aeronautical base, this was addressed by the reassignment of Black Hawk helicopters from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 147th Aviation (Iowa National Guard) from Boone, IA to the base, occupying the hangers that formerly held F-16s.
Having flown manned aircraft for 70 years, the wing recently converted to three new missions: The Operation's Group provides 24/7 global attack/ISR via RPA, ISR for State Organizations via RC-26, and domestic Warfighter training via DTOC. The ISR Targeting Group analyzes Geospatial Imagery to ID target function and vulnerability to then match specific weapons to meet Commander's objective. The Cyber Operations Squadron provides Cyber Protection to defend DoD Information Networks and ensures cyber preparedness and cyber incident response for the State of Iowa. Overall, the 132d Wing trains, deploys, and sustains operations in missions supporting our Nation, State and Community.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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