the 169th fighter wing, south carolina air national guard, was the first ang fighter unit to deploy to southwest asia in direct support of the air war over afghanistan. it sent over 200 personnel and six f-16cjs in january 2002 to al udeid air base in doha, qatar, to assist air combat operations over afghanistan. in particular, they provided joint direct attack munitions (jdams) against taliban and al qaeda positions, the only air force fighter unit in the theater to do so. f-16s sometimes were also configured for cluster bomb units (cbuw). in addition, f-16 pilots sometimes fired their 20mm gun against ground targets. missions could last up to 10 hours with multiple air refuelings. after so many hours strapped in their seats, pilots generally received one to three days of crew rest. the unit returned to south carolina on 3 april 2002.