A dozen A-10s and some 350 airmen from the Michigan Air National Guard’s 127th Wing deployed to an undisclosed air base in the Persian Gulf region to take over the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, unit spokesman TSgt. Daniel Heaton told Air Force Magazine on Tuesday. This expeditionary contingent left Selfridge ANG Base, northeast of Detroit, in early April on a six-month rotation to support Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led air campaign against ISIS, according to a wing release. The Michigan contingent relieved an expeditionary squadron of A-10s and airmen from the Indiana ANG’s 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne that deployed last November, marking the first A-10 OIR rotation. The Michigan unit is likewise assigned to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing while deployed. This rotation is the 127th Wing’s longest large-scale movement since deploying to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in 2011, said unit officials.
The Air Force displayed all the firepower it has amassed on Okinawa in an unusually diverse show of force this week. IIn a May 6 “Elephant Walk,” Kadena Air Base showcased 24 F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters, eight F-15E Strike Eagles; two U.S. Army Patriot anti-missile batteries near the runway; and…