132nd Wing Welcomes Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds for tour of Wing's capabilities

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Linda K. Burger
  • 132WG
132D WING, Iowa --  The 132nd Wing, Iowa Air National Guard welcomed Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds to the Des Moines, Iowa airbase on June 9, for a tour of the Wing's capabilities. This visit included a visual demonstration of the Wing's domestic operations capabilities and a brief of the Wing's three missions -- Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance, Defensive Cyber Operations and MQ-9 Remotely Piloted Aircraft flying operations.

During the presentation, the 132nd Wing Commander, Col. Kevin Heer, explained how, over the last two years of conversion, unit members have been resilient and maintained a spirit of enthusiasm resulting in one of the most efficient conversions in Air National Guard history. He quoted the Director of the Air National Guard, Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke, who said, "You are doing it right."

Heer also spoke about the 132nd being efficient custodians of their facilities. The 132nd hangars once used to store and maintain F-16 Falcon aircraft have since been repurposed into the 132nd Fire Department, where they also store an RC-26 and C-12 aircraft. This facility may also be used in the future by the Iowa Army National Guard to store and maintain UH-60M Black Hawk and UH-72 Lakota helicopters.

During the tour, Iowa officials learned about Iowa National Guard domestic operations capabilities, including demonstrations of the Medical Counter Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear (CBRN) Program, Civil Disturbance Kit, Disaster Response Mobile Kitchen, Fatality Search and Recovery Team, Mobile Emergency Operations Center (MEOC), Urban Search and Rescue, Civil Engineering Debris Clearance, and Prime Power.