The Governor of Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher, said Tuesday that the Kentucky Air National Guard would create a new unit—the 123rd Contingency Response Group—at Louisville where it will be “the light on in great times of need,” reports the Louisville Courier-Journal. Comprising some yet-to-be-identified 144 Air Guardsmen, the 123rd CRG will be the first all Air Guard “air base in a box” unit. The unit will work with the active duty 615th Contingency Response Wing at Travis AFB, Calif., providing the capability to set up bare base operations anywhere in the world.
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show-of-force response to the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.
