No big changes for 55th Wing

The 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base has been running since the start of the war in Afghanistan eight years ago, and its members expect no change now that President Barack Obama is ramping up the U.S. military mission there.

“It's pretty much business as usual for us here,'' said Ryan Hansen, a spokesman for the 55th Wing.

Offutt-based aircraft fly intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions in both Iraq and Afghanistan. At any time, 600 to 800 airmen from the base are serving overseas, the figure changing constantly as crews rotate in and out.

Any increase in those numbers under Obama's plan would probably be small, Hansen said, though some airmen previously designated for Iraq might be refocused on Afghanistan.

Pentagon officials say it's too early to say what the new Afghanistan mission could require in terms of additional National Guard troops. They say Guard troops from the beginning have played critical support roles in Afghanistan.

“The 30,000 troops is going to be truly a joint effort across the Department of Defense, and it's likely to include troops from both active and guard units,'' Marine Maj. Shawn Turner, a Pentagon spokesman, said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Nebraskans for Peace on Wednesday launched protests against Obama's plan. Protesters say they will carry a message of “big mistake to escalate” outside the U.S. Strategic Command's Global Innovation and Strategy Center on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus and Lincoln's federal building.

“The people of Afghanistan will resist until the foreign occupation ends,'' said Mark Welsch, the Omaha coordinator of Nebraskans for Peace.

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