The New Jersey Air Guard 119th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (FS) that arrived in the Middle East on Tuesday gives CENTCOM additional strike capability that may already have been exercised.
Late Thursday evening east coast/early Friday Middle East-time, American fighters struck a pair of targets in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the Pentagon, the strikes were in retaliation for drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases and personnel.
A senior U.S. military official told the Associated Press, the strikes were carried out near Boukamal, Syria by two F-16s which struck weapons and ammunition storage areas that were connected to the IRGC. It’s not known which squadron they came from but the 119th would logically have been available for the tasking.
The 119th, part of the Air Guard’s 177th Fighter Wing, flies Block 30 F-16Cs upgraded to F-16C++ configuration. That gives them the ability to deploy precision munitions like the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and AGM-88 HARM missile, and to bring advanced sensors to bear.
The aircraft have also received avionics updates including a digital Center Display Unit, the Scorpion Helmet Mounted Display (HMD), the Litening targeting pod and the AN/APG-83 SABR (Scalable Agile Beam Radar) Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.
Thier arrival in the theater increases the Air Force’s fighter footprint in the Middle East to six squadrons. Following the Hamas attacks on Israel, the Air Force has deployed F-15E Strike Eagles from RAF Lakenheath in the UK and A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, in Arizona to the area. That brings AFCENT’s (Air Force Central Command) strength to three F-16 squadrons, two A-10 squadrons, and the F-15E squadron.
According to the Pentagon, there were at least 13 rocket or drone attacks on U.S. forces by Iranian proxies—10 in Iraq and three in Syria—between Oct. 17 and Oct. 24. An attack on October 23 targeted the Al Tanf Garrison, a base in southeast Syria that is used by American troops and their Syrian partners.
Air & Space Forces magazine previously reported that on October 19, the USS Carney, a U.S. Navy destroyer operating in the Red Sea, shot down four land attack cruise missiles and several drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels that were potentially heading toward Israel.
It’s possible that Houthi launch sites in western Yemen are on CENTCOM’s potential target list and that U.S. aircraft could strike them. The missile intercept also underlines the kind of action the Israeli Navy itself may see as I noted earlier this week.
The operating location of the 119th has not been disclosed but its presence lends not only more precision strike and air defense suppression capability to CENTCOM but a group of experienced aircrews as well. Air National Guard fighter squadrons typically have high-time ex-active duty USAF pilots, often with combat experience in their rosters.
The Jersey Devils bolstered their experience in March of this year when they participated in Red Flag 23-2 at Nellis Air Force Base. Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, the commander of Air Forces Central, noted that experience in a 9th Air Force release.
“We are fortunate to have the 119th EFS join us in U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility. Air National Guard Airmen bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our mission in the Middle East.”
The F-16s were reportedly escorted to their new operating area by a KC-135 and two KC-46 tankers during the last leg of their deployment from Moron, Spain. It’s not clear whether the additional tanker assets will remain in-theater but the increased number of fighters now there suggests their fuel-give services will be needed.
The 119th FS is among the Air Force’s oldest squadrons having been originally established as the 5th Aviation School Squadron at Langley Field, Virginia. It was redesignated as the 119th Aero Squadron in September 1917, then inactivated in May 1919.
The 119th stood up as an observation squadron in 1930 with the New Jersey National Guard. There it has remained, going through a host of operational and aircraft changes to its present guise at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst near Atlantic City.
The Air Force has not specified any length for the deployment which is obviously contingent upon developments connected with the Israeli-Hamas conflict but 119th F-16s will undoubtedly overfly areas in and around the Red Sea, Iraq, Syria and Egypt during their tour.
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