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(KSL News) After a year of hard work and preparations, Utah Air Force men and women are deployed to Iraq from Utah's Hill Air Force Base.
"We know that it's our time. It's our turn and we're ready to do it."
Those pilots are a part of the 34th Fighter Squadron. They will help ground forces already fighting rebels in Iraq.
This is their first deployment to Iraq. The squadron will serve in the Middle East for the next four months.
They belong to the 388th fighter wing and will rejoin about 250 maintenance experts, pilots, and operations personnal who left Sunday.
The squadron has been preparing for about a year. Pilots deployed to Iraq will fly F -16 fighter jets. The aircraft's sophisticated navigation equipment allows pilots to perform missions day and night in almost any weather conditions.
The deployments are fixed rotations, and even though the squadron plans to be gone for only four months, many say it's still hard to leave family.
