The TACPs have done this for a while and this is the first time they have actually put out press ahead of the event. Congrats National Guard for publicizing a great event. the TACPs are really cool air controllers who travel with Army or Marine units to guide planes to drop ordinance on the bad guys. IN the past, they have run around the base in Bartonville. This year, they are running to Jacob Frazier‘s grave in Elwood, Ill. Support our TACPs. Contribute to raise money for fallen service members and remember Jake Frazier.
Team Peoria is set to participate in the 4th Annual TACP 24-Hour Challenge beginning at 1 p.m. CST on March 26. The event will continue for 24 hours concluding at 12:59 p.m. CST on March 27, 2015. For this year’s event, Team Peoria will run 129 miles from Peoria, to the gravesite of SSgt. Jacob Frazier in Elwood.
This event has a local connection as Jacob Frazier, a TACP from the 169th Air Support Operations Squadron (ASOS) in Peoria, was killed near Geresk, Afghanistan in 2003 supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. During the TACP 24-Hour Challenge, TACP units throughout the globe join their base community and local populace to create teams.
This year, the Illinois Air National Guard, represented by TACPs from the 169th ASOS and service members from the 182nd Air Wing, have merged with their local community to create Team Peoria. The TACP 24-Hour Challenge was created as an event to remember and honor the fallen Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) members and raise money for the event sponsor: the TACP Association. In past years, the TACP Association has provided support to several TACPs who were wounded in battle and have assisted the families of those killed in action.
The Association relieves financial pressures for the families in their darkest hours so that mourning may occur. The primary mission of the TACP is to control close air support for joint combat maneuver units. This community of warriors has always been one of the smallest career fields in the entire scope of the Armed Services. It’s that small size that has created the camaraderie upon which the Association is based.
To donate, click here or go to https://fundly.com/2015-24-hour-challenge-team-peoria-2015#, The organization is a 501c(19) non-profit organization. For more information, please email Matthew Morris at mmorri86@gmail.com.