Idaho Air National Guard deployed to support Operation Epic Fury

A cloud of smoke forms when 30mm rounds leave the gun of an A-10 “Warthog” attack aircraft as it makes a gun run during the “Hawgsmoke” competition over Idaho’s Saylor Creek Range in this September 2022 file photo. BOISE — Idaho Air National Guardsmen have been deployed in support of Operation Epic Fury, the 38-day military campaign aimed at Iran’s leadership and security infrastructure. Christopher Borders, public affairs officer for the Idaho National Guard, confirmed airmen from the 124th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard, stationed at Gowen Field in Boise, were deployed “in late March/early April to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility” in support of the military operation. U.S. Central Command’s (CENTCOM’s) area of responsibility is broad, spanning 4 million square miles from Egypt in northeast Africa to Kazakhstan in south-central Asia. According to an April 6 update from CENTCOM, the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign saw 13,000 targets struck and more than 155 Iranian vessels damaged or destroyed since commencing on Feb. 28. A news release from the Pentagon on Wednesday announced the operation had achieved “all the goals” set by President Donald Trump after a two-week ceasefire agreement was reached Tuesday evening. A subsequent release from the White House claimed “85% of the regime’s defense industrial base .... has been destroyed” and said the administration was entering the “next phase of negotiations.” A representative for the 366th Fighter Wing, which encompasses U.S. Air Force members stationed in Mountain Home, said in an emailed statement that “as a matter of security policy, we do not discuss or disclose the strategic movements of our aircraft or personnel.” Royce McCandless is the Statehouse reporter and covers Idaho politics.