Friends of the 179th Readiness & Support Group

The Friends of the 179th is an organization created for the sole purpose to help assist the Family Readiness and Support Group of the 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield, Ohio.

Our mission is to help provide financial and morale support to the Family Readiness Program. With our help, they will be able to continue to provide support to the men and women of the 179th Airlift Wing and their families.

The Friends support the members of the 179th and their families with events such as the Children's Christmas party, family day, and the fall harvest party, scholarships for members children, as well as send off and welcome home events for our members and families during times of deployment! 

In recent past, we supported the 179th Airlift Wing Family Day for the service members and their families. The Circus theme included activities such as bounce houses, outdoor laser tag, bubble ball, face painting and many food vendors. Fun was had by all!

Currently, the Christmas Party is being planned and will be held at the Buckeye Imagination Museum in December.  Santa will be there for the festivities! This is the first year the Christmas party will be held at the new Buckeye Imagination Museum and we can't wait for our children to enjoy exploring everything the museum has to offer, as well as gifts, crafts, and more.

As the Wing spends a volatile time during the conversion from a C-130 airlift unit to a Cyberspace Wing, it is important to the Friends of the 179th to have the opportunity to provide support for these fun events and keep the morale positive for our members and their families.

A message from the commander - 

“The “Friends of the 179th” programs provide crucial support to our 1000+ service members and their families. 

The “Friends of the 179th” organization supports morale and family programs that the Airlift Wing is not able to fund. 

In addition, they offer college assistance scholarships to family members. 

These programs and scholarships help provide the building blocks that improve moral and resilience to our members, ultimately making our Wing one of the best Air National Guard Wings in the Nation. 

We are a better unit because of those who support the Friends of the 179th.”

*The Friends of the 179th is a non-profit private organization with 501(C)(3) status, that is not endorsed nor supported by the Department of Defense, United States Air Force, or Ohio Air National Guard.