SALT LAKE CITY — The commander of Hill Air Force Base on Tuesday gave the most detailed account yet of how the base’s personnel participated in Operation Epic Fury.
“We had one of our communications airmen,” Col. Dan Cornelius described in one vignette, “in the first two and a half months of his time for the deployment, sprinted – had to sprint – to a bunker like that over 150 times.”
Cornelius commands the 75th Airbase Wing – the unit that operates Hill. He spoke Tuesday at the state Capitol to a group of Utah legislators and other members of the Utah Veterans and Military Affairs Commission, disclosing to the public for the first time the extent of the base’s role in the Iran war.
In all, about 700 personnel from Hill deployed in support of the war, Cornelius said. The base has about 5,000 active-duty airmen and about 1,000 reservists.
While FOX 13 News reported in February that F-35s from Hill had deployed abroad, Cornelius explained just how much time the jets have spent in the conflict zone. Hill has three F-35 squadrons.
WATCH: How Hill Air Force Base F-35s could be being used in Iran strikes
Normally, one squadron deploys, one prepares to deploy, and the third squadron has just returned.
“The reality is,” Cornelius told the commission, “over the last four to five months, all three have been on the road.”
Hill also has a munitions depot. Cornelius said those personnel have been sending weapons to the conflict.
“Those are the ones that you saw blowing up targets when you saw video footage in Iran,” Cornelius said.
Those weapons included so-called bunker buster bombs, he said.
“In the last 3-1/2 to four months,” Cornelius said, “we've moved more pallets of munitions at Hill Air Force Base than we had the previous six years combined.”
While there have been no reports of Hill personnel killed in the Iran war, Cornelius described how airmen from the base dodged enemy shells and missiles – sprinting to bunkers on a moment's warning.
“We had 18 personnel come home for non-physical injuries,” Cornelius said, “either mental health issues they experienced or their spouse experienced.”
WATCH: Several men, women at Hill Air Force Base honored for operations in Iran
Cornelius said the base is developing a plan to counsel returning airmen.
The mental health report caught the attention of Rep. John Arthur, D-Holladay.
“The airmen who have gone over with the operation in Iran have faced a new kind of warfare that they weren’t necessarily prepared for,” Arthur told FOX 13 after the briefing.
“And the issue that I’m most concerned about,” he added, “is that we are prepared to meet their needs once they come home.”
