Runway closes, planes fly off

The Mountain Home AFB runway officially closes today until Sept. 3 and the wing's aircraft have all departed in the last two weeks.

All of the remaining 366th Wing flying squadrons have sent elements to Operation Southern Watch, patrolling the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, while 20 other aircraft from those squadrons have stayed behind to train, flying out of Gowen Field in Boise.

The units at Gowen Field will be training with elements of the Idaho Air National Guard's 124th Wing, composed of A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft and C-130 transports. Flying operations began Monday at Gowen Field.

"It's an opportunity for the Idaho Air National Guard and the active-duty Air Force to train like we fight, as a combined team," said Brig. Gen. Gary Sayler, IANG commander.

"This is the way we do things when we deploy overseas, so having this mix of fighter and attack aircraft right here at Gowen Field will only enhance our normal training."

Col. Jeff Eberhart, the 366th Wing vice commander, added that "these summer operations give us a chance to learn the Guard role, since we can expect that future real-world situations will have active-duty and Guard personnel working side by side.

"Face to face briefings and debriefings allow a better undertanding of the other's role in specific situations." The air crews and maintainers flying out of Gowen Field are commuting daily from Mountain Home.

The rest of their squadrons, however, are engaged in combat operations in Iraq. The 389th's F-16CJ wild weasel (suppression of enemy air defense) Falcons, along with the 390th Figher Squadron's F-15C (air superiority) Eagles and the F-15E (ground attack) Strike Eagles of the 391st Fighter Squadron are deployed to southwest Asia as part of a standard rotation.

Leading them to the area were large elements of the 726th Air Control Squadron.

All four squadrons are supporting both Southern Watch and Enduring Freedom operations.

The moves were designed to coincide with the closure of the runway, which is undergoing a $30 million renovation project. Usually, not all elements of a squadron deploy into combat zones. Some remain for continuing training. The wing had been looking for a place to locate its training aircraft when the 124th Wing at Gowen Field offered its facilities.

The 366th Wing accepted, "because it helps keep the families together through the summer," a public affairs spokesperson said.

With the closure of the runway the last of the B-1s and KC-135R aircraft of the 34th Bomb Squadron and the 22nd Air Refueling Squadon have left the base. The 34th will be going to Ellsworth AFB, S.D., while the planes of the 22nd will be transferred to the Kansas Air National Guard.

During the remainer of the summer the crews and families of those units will be relocated.

In their place will be new crewmen for an expanded 726th ACS unit, and additional maintainers and aircraft for the 391st FS. They will begin arriving this summer.

By the time the runway re-opens around Sept. 3, most of the new personnel, who will keep the base military personnel at the same level it has been for the last few years, will have arrived.

In addition, almost all the deployed aircraft and personnel are expected to return on or about that date, returning just in time for the annual Air Force Appreciation Day celebration in Mountain Home.

The runway renovation project is the second largest public works project in Idaho this year, behind only work on I-84 across southern Idaho.

But it isn't the only work being done on base this summer. The base has nearly completed construction of 60 replacement housing units in the area behind the hospital, and plans to soon begin work on 46 more.

In addition, funding has been allocated by Congress for 56 replacement units in the Woodland Grove area, and another 95 housing units in the hospital area.

The Air Force goal is to have all new base housing by 2010. Because federal laws limit the number of housing units at a base like Mountain Home, old units must be removed when new housing units are built.

The Woodland Grove area, for example, will have all of its units totally replaced within the next year to 18 months, including those replaced in earlier construction authoritizations in recent years.