HILL AIR FORCE BASE — About 300 airmen from Hill Air Force Base have deployed on a four-month mission to Iraq. The group is from the 388th Fighter Wing and consists of pilots, maintenance experts and operations support personnel.

A spokesman from the 388th declined to give specifics about when the airmen left and what they will do in Iraq. They will likely patrol the sky with their F-16s and provide ground support to troops, said Master Sgt. Terry Nelson.

"They will be protecting whatever the president tells them to do," said Nelson. "This is their turn to go now."

The deployed airmen will be based at Balad Air Base in Iraq. They are from five squadrons: 4th Fighter Squadron, Equipment Maintenance Squadron, Component Maintenance Squadron, Maintenance Operations Squadron and the Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

"The mission of the Air Force is to deliver sovereign options for the defense of the United States of America and its global interests — to fly and fight in air, space and cyberspace," said Col. Robert Beletic, 388th Fighter Wing commander in a statement. "I'm proud of the 388th's daily contributions in support of the Air Force's mission and our nation's worldwide operations in the Global War on Terror. We are America's airmen, defending our nation at and home and abroad."