About 65 Air National Guardsmen with the New York ANG’s 102nd Rescue Squadron are using a deployment to Djibouti, Africa, with their HC-130 to practice their trade: dropping pararescue jumpers and refueling helicopters. They are working with Air Force and Marine elements that are part of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. The ANG unit also has among its members an active duty pilot—1st Lt. Matt Stueck—who is on his first deployment. The 102nd RQS is helping to season Stueck and other active duty members.
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
