Airmen from the New York Air National Guard's 174th Fighter Wing board a charter plane taking them to Iraq on Wednesday, June 4. New York National Guard Commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, the Adjutant General, and New York Air National Guard Commander Maj. Gen. Robert Knauff, along with wing leaders, shook the hands of the airmen as they headed up the ramp at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y.
Airmen from the 174th will provide the F-16 fighterbomber component of an Air Expeditionary Force operating in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.