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Vermont Air National Guard members deployed overseas in December are participating in a campaign to drive ISIS from Mosul, Iraq. ADAM SILVERMAN/FREE PRESS

Staff Sgt. Larry Runk, 407th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron crew chief, walks away from an F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron after marshaling it for takeoff at the 407th Air Expeditionary Group in December.(Photo: Master Sgt. Benjamin Wilson/U.S. Air Force)

Vermont Air National Guard members deployed overseas in December are participating in a campaign to drive the Islamic State group from Mosul, Iraq, according to the Defense Department.

F-16 pilots with the South Burlington-based 158th Fighter Wing "delivered combat airpower" for Iraqi ground forces within 15 hours of arriving in the Middle East on Dec. 10, the military disclosed in a recent online post about a generals review of U.S. troops.

The battle to retake Mosul Iraqs second-largest city, with a population of more than a million residents began in October, two years after Islamic State militants captured the area. Vermonters have been involved in battles for Mosul since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, and two soldiers with Vermont ties have been killed there.

In late January, Iraqi ground forces, with support from U.S.-led coalition air strikes, captured Mosuls eastern sector from IS fighters. Militants still control the citys western half.

About 300 airmen with the Vermont Guard received an unusually short 30 daysnotice before deploying to the region Dec. 7. Guard commanders previously have said the mission was to take on the IS group in Iraq and Syria, but the militarys recent post marked the first time the exact nature and location of the Vermonters mission was made public.

A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon, assigned to the 134th Fighter Squadron, 158th Fighter Wing, Vermont National Guard, takes off from Burlington International Airport in South Burlington in December 2016. Airmen from the 158th and a squadron of F-16s from the 134th deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve to fight the Islamic State group.(Photo: Tech. Sgt. Sarah Mattison/U.S. Air National Guard)

"We got a tasking to get out here, get these jets ready. Typically for a Guard unit, thats about a year process," Lt. Col. Brian Lepine of the Vermont Air Guard said in a Defense Department video.

Guard members originally were scheduled to have several days in the Middle East to set up and test equipment before entering combat, but the schedule accelerated at the request of the host nation, Lepine said.

"In less than 15 hours, we were asked to produce combat-effective aircraft and put it over the targets," he said. Airmen hurried to prepare two of the unit's F-16s. "And we haven't let up since. It's been sortie after sortie after sortie."

The unit is expecting to "run continuous operations for the next couple months," said Lepine, who lives in Essex Junction.

The full unit, known as the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, also includes forces from Alabama, New Jersey and Wisconsin.

Staff Sgt. Larry Runk, 407th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron crew chief, speaks with a pilot assigned to the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron through his headset during preflight checks. Runk is a member of the Vermont-based 158th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard.(Photo: Master Sgt. Benjamin Wilson/U.S. Air Force)

One of the F-16 pilots, Capt. "Cash" Shaner, said in the video he'd never heard of a unit's joining the fight so quickly after arrival.

"Weve worked very hard to fit in to the broader mission in this region," said Shaner, who is on his first combat deployment.

Vermont Guard spokeswoman Capt. Dyana Allen said Friday the mission is going well. "Everybody's in good spirits, and morale is high," she said.

There have been no casualties, saidCapt. Tracy Morris, spokeswoman for 158th Fighter Wing.

"Everybody has been professional, proficient, working very very hard, working 16 hours, 18 hours a day," she said. "Really everything that we train for is what they have been doing."

Maj. Gen. Steven Cray and other command staff visited the deployed airmen in early January, where they joined Lt. Gen. Scott Rice, director of the Air National Guard, to recognize the service members and pose for photos. The Vermont airmen are based outside of Iraq.

The Vermont Guard's deployment is expected to continue until late February or early March. Morris said the unit has yet to receive orders specifying when the mission will end.

Mosul is in northern Iraq, near the borders of Syria and Turkey.

Despite progress in the battle for Mosul, Iraqi military commanders say they expect the threat from Islamic State to continue, even in liberated parts of the city. Militants are known to shave their traditional beards and try to blend in before they strike again.

Staff Sgt. Larry Runk, 407th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron crew chief, speaks with a pilot assigned to the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron through his headset during preflight checks at the 407th Air Expeditionary Group in December.(Photo: Master Sgt. Benjamin Wilson/U.S. Air Force)

Islamic State is a militant group that broke with the terrorist organization al-Qaida and has taken control of large portions of Iraq and Syria. IS overran Mosul in 2014.

The two Vermont soldiers killed in Mosul were Army Capt. Pierre Piche, 29, of Starksboro in a helicopter crash in 2003, and Maine National Guard Spc. Christopher D. Gelineau, 23, who graduated from Mount Abraham Union High School in Bristol, in an ambush in 2004.

In all, 41 service members with ties to Vermont have been killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.

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Contributing: USA TODAY and the AP. Contact Adam Silverman at802-660-1854 or asilverman@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at@wej12.

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