Nearly 200 members of the Idaho Air National Guard will return Wednesday from Afghanistan after completing a 45-day mission in support of NATO military operations.

The deployment consisted of about 30 A-10 pilots from the 190th Fighter Squadron and the rest were a mixture of operations, support and maintenance personnel from the 124th Wing. Four Idaho Air Guard A-10 attack aircraft were used in conjunction with A-10s from other Air Force units.

It was the 190th Fighter Squadron’s second overseas deployment in as many years and the third since 2001. The unit deployed to Iraq in 2007, and in 2003 it was the first A-10 squadron to deploy from Kuwait into Iraq in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (Idaho Statesman)