operations and teams from the 129th Medical Squadron deployed to England, Saudi Arabia and Travis AFB. Individual members of the 129th volunteered to backfill for deployed active duty members. In July 1993, 129th members deployed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as part of rescue force coverage for Southwest Asia. 2 July 2008, crews from the 129th Rescue Squadron were certified to perform water bucket operations, making the 129th the only rescue unit in the Air Force and Air National Guard qualified to fight fires. On 6 April 2018 the squadron received the first of four new HC-130J Combat King II aircraft. The 129th has been routinely assigned to support Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. California state support missions As an Air National Guard unit, many of the 129th's missions involved supporting the Governor's office during times of State emergencies, including earthquakes, chemical spills, fires and floods. The 129th provided aid during floods along the Yuba River in 1959 and the Eel River in 1964–1965. During record flooding in Sonoma, Sutter and Yuba counties in Northern California, 33 lives were saved in 5 days, from 18 to 22 February 1986. In all, 44 lives were saved in 1986, a record rescue for the 129th. During the aftermath of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the 129th established Command Post operations and was chosen to coordinate all military aircraft activities within the Bay Area. The 129th provided air transportation for State and Federal government officials to survey damage from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the 1991 Oakland Hills fire. The unit has also been tasked with mutual aid to state law enforcement during the 1965 Watts (Los Angeles) riots and the 1992 civil disturbance in Los Angeles. Lineage Designated 129th Air Resupply Group, and allotted to California ANG, 1955 Extended federal recognition and activated, 3 April 1955 Re-designated: 129th Troop Carrier Group, 1 November 1958 Re-designated: 129th Air Commando Group, 1 July 1963 Re-designated: 129th Special Operations Group, 8 August 1968 Re-designated: 129th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group, 3 May 1975 Re-designated: 129th Air Rescue Group, 1 October 1989 Re-designated: 129th Rescue Group, 16 March 1992 Status changed from Group to Wing, 1 October 1995 Re-designated: 129th Rescue Wing, 1 October 1995 Assignments California Air National Guard, 3 April 1955 Gained by: Military Air Transport Service Gained by: Fourth Air Force, Continental Air Command, 1955 Gained by: Eighteenth Air Force, Tactical