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.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.