HARRISON TOWNSHIP, MI — Warplanes and airmen from Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County have been deployed to the Middle East to help fight the extremist group known as the Islamic State, officials announced Tuesday.
About 350 airmen and 12 A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft of the Harrison Township-based 127th Wing were deployed earlier this month and are now “fully engaged” in the U.S.-led air campaign targeting the terror group that has taken over wide swathes of Iraq and Syria, officials said.
“Our A-10 Airmen have trained extensively here in Michigan, at the air gunnery range in Grayling, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona and in several other training exercises. They are ready, they are willing and they are more than capable,” said Brig. Gen. John D. Slocum, commander of the 127th Wing, in a statement.
He said the deployment is expected to last about six months, the longest since operations in Afghanistan in 2012.
More deployments are expected later this year.