Kentucky Guard Unit Returns from Senegal

Members of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group recently transferred control of a humanitarian cargo hub in Senegal to a relief group. The Ebola-response mission was initially set to last 45-to-60 days, Maj. Dale Greer, spokesman for the Joint Task Force-Port Opening Senegal, told Air Force Magazine in October, shortly after the unit’s arrival. While in the country, the unit established an international staging base to help route supplies and equipment from the airport into the affected areas, processed more than 750 tons of relief supplies for airlift to Liberia, and “ensure[d] capabilities [were] rapidly provided to the affected region and to health care providers,” Greer said. The humanitarian operation will continue at the Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport, despite the 123rd CRG’s departure. The 787th Air Expeditionary Squadron will take it from this point. “As one of the first Air Force assets in theater, the 123rd Contingency Response Group’s mission was to open an airfield for military cargo operations, establish an aerial port of debarkation, and hand off the operation to follow-on forces within 60 days,” said David Mounkes, commander of the 123rd, in a release. “We’ve now completed that mission, and the 787th is ready to take over. I know they will do a superb job.”