GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The Montana Air Nationwide Guard (MANG) has been serving to shield our group and nation for the reason that 1940’s and has been evolving ever since to assist preserve us secure; particularly for the reason that occasions of September 11, 2001.
I used to be in a position to sit down with the Commander of the one hundred and twentieth Airlift Wing, Col Hint Thomas to speak about this evolution and his expertise 21 years in the past.
He tells me the MANG went from a unit that hardly ever deployed to 1 that’s on the highway not directly form or kind 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 12 months a yr.
And for him, he remembers precisely the place he was when the tragic occasions unfolded 21 years in the past.
“We had simply truly simply completed briefing. We had been going to do an area coaching story, completed briefing and had been sitting across the ops desk and hastily on the TV got here the the dreaded information of the occasions in New York. Inside minutes we canceled the native missions and began reactivating our previous alert amenities, pulling stay munitions out of storage… We might gone from 0 to 100 and had been sitting residence station alert… I used to be one of many 4 people that we introduced up on/that was referred to as on to sit down that first alert… So actually that first day was busy. There wasn’t actually a lot time to consider. The one factor you bought was a fast telephone name and say, Hey, I do not know after I’m coming residence, however I will be there,” mentioned Col Thomas.
“Did it’s important to make that telephone name?,” I requested.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yep. It is a type of very powerful, however if you acquired an excellent help system, they at all times know that it is. At any time you would be referred to as to deploy and or do what must be achieved… We had been a unit that had roughly 15 people as half time simply as guardsmen, pilots that had been flying for the airways, of which a number of we’re excellent mates with people who had been concerned, knew the work schedules and knew instantly who was there. So from there, it simply form of it sank in and everyone picked up and realized what they needed to do and moved on,” mentioned Col Thomas.
Though they took to the skies 2 a long time in the past, the influence of that day is one thing he, like many, will always remember.
“The influence that exterior forces had been in a position to instill upon america remains to be eye watering… I might say the most important factor to recollect to make sure that we do not ever encounter that state of affairs once more is to keep in mind that freedom is not free,” mentioned Col Thomas.