The F-16s of the 80th Fighter Squadron at Kunsan AB, South Korea, took to the skies recently to take on the F/A-18 Hornets of Marine Aircraft Group One’s VMFA-3M “Black Knights” as part of the annual Hollandia dissimilar air combat exercise. More than 150 marine air and ground crews deployed to Iwakuni, Japan, from MCAS Miramar in San Diego. Hollandia commemorates operations during World War II when the 80th FS “Juvats” shot down 33 aircraft in four days without loosing any aircraft. The exercise is set up to steadily increase the overall experience for each pilot, slowly raising the curve from one-on-one aerial combat to a final major exercise involving 10 Hornets and 16 Vipers.
Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing helped save 11 airplane crash survivors off the coast of Florida on May 12. The Reserve Airmen were flying an HC-130J Combat King II and an HH-60W Jolly Green II on a routine training flight when a Coast Guard call diverted…