123rd Contingency Response Group

The 123rd Contingency Response Group (CRG) is a unit of the 123rd Airlift Wing, Kentucky Air National Guard. Officially formed in 2007, it is the first of two Air National Guard CRG's along with the 108th CRG of the New Jersey Air National Guard.

Mission
The primary mission of the 123rd CRG is to provide rapidly deployable forces to the United States Air Force to open forward airfields in an expeditionary environment as a completely self-contained unit. In addition, due to its unique mobile capability, the 123rd CRG is also utilized to provide quick reaction logistical support for humanitarian missions including man-made and natural disasters.

Organization
The 123rd CRG is a subunit of the 123rd Airlift Wing, Kentucky Air National Guard. The CRG has two squadrons, the 123rd Global Mobility Squadron (GMS) and the 123rd Global Mobility Readiness Squadron (GMRS). The 123rd GMS provides operational support for forward airfields including the Airfield Operations Flight, Mobile Aerial Port Flight, and Aircraft Maintenance Flight. The 123rd GMRS provides logistical support for forward airfields including the Logistics Flight, Intelligence Flight, and Security Forces Flight (Phoenix Fist).

Deployments
Members of the 123rd CRG have deployed worldwide in support of many operations including Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Notably, many CRG members deployed on 12 hours notice in 2009 as a part of the largest activation of the Kentucky National Guard history during an ice storm that affected a majority of Kentucky.

On January 21, 2010 45 members of the 123rd CRG deployed to the Dominican Republic in support of Operation Unified Response. This was the first organizational deployment for the 123rd CRG. Deployed as the 123rd Contingency Response Element (CRE), the CRG established an airfield in Barahona Dominican Republic and then relieved a CRE from the 572nd CRG, an active duty unit from Travis AFB at San Isidro AB, near Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.