Former Van Nuys Guard Units Head for Saudi Supply Duty : Buildup: Ninety-three volunteers and three cargo planes depart the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing’s new Oxnard base for ‘air bridge’ based in Germany.

The California Air National Guard unit based until recently at Van Nuys Airport joined the Saudi Arabian military buildup with aircraft and crews this week.

Four of the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing’s 16 cargo planes and 93 volunteers left for Frankfurt, Germany, to become part of the “air bridge” ferrying troops and supplies from the United States to the Persian Gulf.

Capt. Vince Cocca of Lake View Terrace was in the pilot’s seat of one of the three C-130s that left Thursday from the Channel Islands Air National Guard Base near Oxnard, the unit’s home since last spring.

The three planes, carrying 71 volunteers, were headed for a first stop at Goose Bay in Newfoundland, Canada.

“It’s 30 degrees in Goose Bay, a warm day for them,” Cocca, a TWA flight engineer in civilian life, told his colleagues in a preflight briefing.

The four-engine C-130s were to meet a fourth plane from the Oxnard base that left Tuesday for the Rhein-Main Air Base near Frankfurt. The planes and crew members will be based there, transporting supplies, equipment and personnel across Europe and possibly to the Middle East, a spokesman said.

Earlier, the 146th had dispatched about 50 cargo handlers and medical technicians to Saudi Arabia. But this week marked the first time that the wing sent flight crew members and cargo planes overseas to help with the buildup of troops and weaponry in Saudi Arabia.

The wing and its predecessors had been based at Van Nuys Airport since the early 1950s and its ranks include many men and women from the San Fernando Valley and throughout the Los Angeles area. The wing moved to its new home near Oxnard because the Van Nuys Airport air guard installation, a former World War II Air Force base, closed in April due to congested flying conditions and the rising fees charged by the city of Los Angeles, which owns the airport.

So far, wing members sent overseas have been volunteers. But officials said they probably will be asked to activate at least some of the wing’s 1,400 reservists to help meet the call-up of an additional 72,500 National Guard and reserve troops authorized this week by Defense Secretary Dick Cheney.

At the Air National Guard base Thursday, the volunteer flight crews and mechanics arrived before dawn to prepare for the initial nine-hour leg of their flight to Europe.

The volunteers were issued new identification cards and made sure that their military paychecks would be electronically deposited into checking accounts.

For some of the citizen-soldiers, it was an emotional parting from family members worried about war erupting in the Persian Gulf.

Clutching a double handful of junk food for the long flight, Sgt. Angela Bateman said she had not realized the risk of flying into a potential war zone.

“Logically, I know this could be something serious, but emotionally it hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Bateman, a Camarillo resident. “We all have a lot of mixed emotions.”

Before departure, many of the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing members joked around on the Tarmac. There was a mixture of excitement about the adventure and a gallows humor about making it home alive. “It is something that you can’t help but think about,” Sgt. Robert Bonino of Ventura said.

“I’m not as excited as some of the younger guys,” said Tech. Sgt. Ray C. Perkins of Simi Valley. “I’ve been to Vietnam, so I know what war is all about. I’ve been to hot spots before.”

Before departure, each reservist went through a last-minute briefing on how to handle live bombs, missiles or other ordnance, including chemical weapons.

“If it is a real low charge, it is probably a chemical agent,” warned Capt. Rick Gibson, the mission’s operations officer who led the briefing.

Gibson instructed all the reservists to make sure that they replace the training filters in their gas masks with new filters to be issued before they enter Saudi Arabia. “I don’t have to stress how important this is before going ‘in country,’ ” Gibson said.

He emphasized the need to carry identification at all times, on and off the base. “Right now, the biggest threat we have over there is terrorism,” Gibson said. “They will be checking ID at the hotel, on base and just about anywhere you go.”

“I just thought he was going to Germany, but he’s not,” said Leslie Zuniga, wife of Sgt. Jerry Zuniga, an airplane mechanic. “He is going to fly back and forth to Saudi Arabia. He won’t be fighting; he’ll be carrying supplies. You wonder if they’ll want to knock out the supply planes.”

Jerry Zuniga tried to comfort his wife as he worked his way through the processing line with his son, Andrew, 7, seated on his shoulders. “She’s not used to this,” Zuniga said. “This is the first time I’ve deployed since I’ve been married.”

Zuniga predicted that he would be home before Christmas.

“Of course, if someone pulls a trigger, we’ll be over there a year.”