The Wyoming Air National Guard says that its first-of-its-kind active associate unit is fully deployable “months ahead of schedule.” The active duty airmen of the 30th Airlift Squadron are stationed at Cheyenne, Wyo., where they are working with the Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing, flying and maintaining C-130 tactical transports. The new arrangement is the flip side of a reserve associate unit, in which reservists share aircraft and work with an active unit.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.