The latest increment of airmen deployed to the 385th Air Expeditionary Group headquartered at Incirlik AB, Turkey, have flown 1,800 sorties for a total of 3,600 hours, hauled 65.6 million pounds of cargo, and off-loaded 21 million pounds of fuel over the course of four months. SSgt. Jeff Nevison reports that the group comprises the 90th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, rotationally staffed by Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command airmen who deploy from two weeks to 30 days and the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at Al Udeid AB, Qatar, and 817th EAS at Incirlik (with a detachment at Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan), manned by active duty airmen on 120-day tours. The reservists fly and maintain KC-135 tankers, and the active duty airmen fly and maintain C-17s. Since the creation of the 385th AEG at Incirlik about two years ago, units from Charleston AFB, S.C. and McChord AFB, Wash., have supplied the C-17 personnel and aircraft, but Stars and Stripes reports that McGuire AFB, N.J. will soon join that rotation.
The Air Force ramped up operations and maintenance spending to keep its F-35A fighters flying over the past six years, but readiness continues to lag behind goals, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.