The airmen with the 41st Expeditionary Electronic Control Squadron at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, recently flew their 700th EC-130H Compass Call sortie for Operation Enduring Freedom. The milestone came on April 7, exactly two years since their deployment to Southwest Asia. The 41st EECS has supported six consecutive air expeditionary force rotations, with the electronic warfare aircraft flying every day. The unit has missed only two missions in the last six months, Col. Allen D. Hansen, 41st EECS commander told the Bagram Bullet. Hansen noted that more than a dozen of the aircraft would undergo a two-year upgrade process to increase the aircraft’s jamming capabilities “well beyond what they are today.”
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
