PITTSBURGH -- The Pennsylvania Air National Guard's 171st Air Refueling Wing will be mobilized, with more than half its members deployed to the Middle East.
The unit is based in Findlay Township near Pittsburgh International Airport.
Many of the 171st's 20 KC-135 Stratotankers also will be deployed, said wing commander, Brig. Gen. William Boardley. The first left for the Middle East last night. Others will depart today and tomorrow.
Each KC-135, a militarized version of the Boeing 707, weighs 115,000 pounds and can carry 185,000 pounds of fuel, enough to refuel an entire squadron of F-16 fighters. The KC-135 is capable of refueling all the types of military aircraft coalition forces will be using in the gulf, from B-1 bombers to the Harrier jump jets the Marines and Royal Air Force will be flying.
The reservists will serve for up to a year.
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