The US Army’s forward operating base Qayyarah West, Iraq—known in theater as Q-West—is the front line for approximately 200 civil engineering airmen with the 557th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron. “We’re kind of like a contractor, and we support the Army wherever they need us,” says SrA. Jesse Gent, a structural journeyman. In between their construction jobs, the airmen run truck convoys throughout Iraq.
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.