New flight plan for Duluth fighter wing

DULUTH – When members of the Duluth-based 148th Fighter Wing of the Minnesota Air National Guard begin arriving at an air base in South Korea in coming days, they'll be embarking on a new kind of mission for the country's Guard and Reserve military forces.

They even have a different word for the mission: It will be an "employment" rather than a "deployment."

Starting next week, about 300 airmen of the fighter wing are expected to participate in a four-month assignment in South Korea, providing what is known as a "routine deterrence mission against threats to regional security and stability."

In civilian terms, the wing's dozen F16 fighter jets will show a presence in the increasingly volatile region. Their deployment isn't in response to any immediate threat but part of the U.S. Pacific force command in the region since March 2004, officials said Friday.

"We're there just as a presence, just to have the ability in a contingency operation to be a quick reaction force," said Lt. Col. Curt Grayson, who will command the wing in Korea.

The wing will be stationed at Osan Air Base, about 40 miles south of Seoul, where it will conduct routine training missions. But it will also have the capability of quickly weaponizing its aircraft in response to a threat, particularly from a potential enemy's surface-based air defenses.

Flying the newest and most capable F16s in the Air Force, the Duluth wing is one of two Guard fighter wings in the country with the equipment and training to fill in on an assignment such as this. It will be flying with active-duty units and the Korean air force.

The Korean deployment is a small reflection of a new reality. As the active-duty military reduces its numbers across the country, it's expected members of the Guard and Reserve will be called on to fill the gaps. The active-duty Army, for instance, is in the midst of a massive downsizing, from a high of 1.1 million soldiers in 2012 to an anticipated 980,000 by 2018.

As a consequence, Guard and Reserve units are likely to see more, but shorter, deployments than during the heights of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, where those units could expect to be deployed for more than a year.

A Minnesota Guard medical unit recently was to be dispatched to Liberia in response to the Ebola crisis, but the deployment was canceled as the disease waned. Similar announcements for other Guard units could come within the next few weeks, Guard officials said.

"This is a good example of the new way. We're having combat commanders asking to employ our forces as opposed to deploying them," said Brig. Gen. Sandy Best, chief of staff for the Minnesota Air National Guard. "It's a great use of our tax dollars and the way we're utilizing our Guard and Reserve forces."

Families adjust

The new world order fits in well for fighter pilot Lt. Col. Brian Scott, who will be deploying to Korea.

Scott has been a full-time member of the Minnesota Air National Guard for almost three years and was on active duty in the Air Force for 12 years before that. He left active duty to pursue a more stable family lifestyle.

"We have really vast capability to step up and backfill the active duty," he said. "They're using us more and more as the active duty dwindles in size. Just knowing the readiness we have, the capabilities that we could employ, is really important for shaping how the situation is in the world, and it provides some job satisfaction as well."

Families, too, are making the adjustment.

Spouses and children of Guard and Reserve members on deployment can often feel a sense of isolation in a largely civilian world. But the Duluth Fighter Wing maintains a sizable presence in the city. With more than 1,000 members, over 350 of them full-time, the wing is Duluth's seventh largest employer.

Sheri Grayson, wife of the commander, Lt. Col. Curt Grayson, has an added support system. As a Duluth native, her family and friends are readily available.

While never routine, she said deployments now have a common feel for the family, which includes children ages 15, 13, 11 and 9.

"The kids just get used to what Dad does, and they know he has to go and he has to come back," she said. "We talk about where he's going, and we talk about how things are going to be over there for him, and we just comfort them that he is safe and that he is going to do his job and that he is going to get home safely."

Mark Brunswick • 612-673-4434