The senior enlisted man for the Air National Guard, CMSgt. Richard Smith told the Guard and Reserve Commission that ANG airmen are serving in 27 countries, has responsibility for 90 percent of the US homeland air sovereignty mission, and flies more than a third of the missions in Southwest Asia. While Air Force Reserve Command’s top enlisted airman, CMSgt. Jackson Winsett noted that the Air Reserve Components fly 61 percent of the Air Force’s heavily used C-130 tactical airlift fleet. AFRC accounts for 35 percent of USAF’s C-5 aircrews, 34 percent of C-17 aircrews, and 43 percent of KC-10 aircrews. And, said Winsett, when it comes to aircraft maintainers, AFRC provides some 44 percent of the C-5 and 37 percent of the KC-10 workforce.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.