Th
e airmen and soldiers who man the E-8C Joint STARS aircraft of the 128th Expeditionary Airborne Command and Control Squadron have exceeded 23,000 flying hours supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. The unit flies more than a dozen missions per week, each averaging from 10 to 12 hours. Many of the Air Force members—active duty and Air National Guard—have deployed multiple times. One mission crew commander, Maj. Dennis Dickerson, says that the demand for the platform continues to grow, as the crewmembers discover new capabilities daily on the “still relatively new” Joint STARS.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
