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Tucson Region

Airmen set for Afghanistan

Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.07.2007
Hundreds of Davis-Monthan personnel are off to war again with the base's A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft.
About 300 airmen from the 354th Fighter Squadron and the 355th Maintenance Group are due to start leaving for Afghanistan this weekend.
The pilots, navigators, mechanics and other personnel likely will be overseas for four to six months, though the exact length of their deployments isn't certain, officials said.
"America's airmen from Davis-Monthan are ready for combat," the base's wing commander, Col. Kent Laughbaum, said in a statement announcing the departures. The A-10 provides close air support to U.S. ground troops. The aircraft "has earned a tremendous reputation for combat effectiveness, particularly with soldiers and Marines engaged in a close fight with the enemy," Laughbaum said.
The 354th Fighter Squadron, nicknamed the "Bulldogs," last deployed in August 2005.
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