Call to Duty sendoff ceremony Wednesday January 19th for 14 Airmen from Delaware Air National Guard security forces squadron

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NEW CASTLE, Delaware --  Fourteen Airmen of the Delaware Air National Guard, all members of the 166th Airlift Wing's 166th Security Forces Squadron, will be recognized by leadership of the Delaware National Guard, local elected officials and other dignitaries at a special Call to Duty deployment ceremony this coming Wednesday, Jan. 19 at the headquarters of the Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware. Family members are invited, and about 100 people are expected to attend. The ceremony begins promptly at 1:00 p.m. in the Loeffel Room, Headquarters.

News media are welcome to attend, but are asked to call ahead to confirm attendance. Media should arrive no later than 12:30 p.m. Interviews will be available with several of the Airmen, their family members and unit leadership. The Airmen reside in Delaware and in the nearby region.

The 14 Airmen are getting ready to deploy overseas to combat zones in Southwest Asia. A 13-person team will be deploying to Afghanistan, and one additional Airman will be deploying to Iraq. 

Hometowns for the 14 deploying Airmen being recognized at the event:

Delaware (6 Airmen): Wilmington (two), Newark, Bear, Middletown and Dover

New Jersey (4 Airmen): Wenonah, Williamstown, Branchburg, Deptford

Pennsylvania (3 Airmen): Ridley Park, Shermans Dale, and Oley

Maryland (1 Airman): Port Deposit

The 14 Airmen were activated for federal active duty earlier this month. Toward the end of the month, 13 Airmen will go through the Evasion and Conduct after Capture (ECAC) course and Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training at the U.S. Air Force Survival School at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. This training is given to troops such as the 166th Security Forces Squadron members who will operate outside the wire of their base in Afghanistan. The training will last about two months and will be immediately followed by combat training. The Airmen will then report directly to their overseas location in Afghanistan to perform area security operations duties such as convoys, perimeter security, and quick response forces. These 13 personnel will perform their mission for approximately nine months.

One senior enlisted Airman in the same squadron will leave Delaware on Jan. 21 to directly report to a location in Iraq to perform his mission into September (information for this one Airman going to Iraq updated Jan. 18, 2011)

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