The Ohio Air National Guard will establish a new 200-member RED HORSE engineering unit at Mansfield, the home of the 179th Airlift Wing, reports the Telegraph Forum. The 179th AW survived the BRAC 2005 axe—barely—losing its C-130s but later got picked as one of the new Joint Cargo Aircraft units. The addition of the rapid-deployable engineer unit will bring about $40 million in new construction to the Mansfield Air Guard facility.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
