RC-135 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft from Offutt AFB, Neb., surpassed 24 years of continuous employment in support of US Central Command, officials announced. The 55th Wing has provided “unmatched electronic attack, command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, theater missile warning, worldwide treaty verification operations, and agile combat support,” wing Commander Col. Marty Reynolds said in a Sept. 9 release. Rivet Joints accumulated 2,281 combined flying hours over 218 sorties across the Middle East and Southwest Asia over the last year, ending in June. They also assisted the Royal Air Force in the launch of its first RC-135 combat deployment supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. The British RC-135 added a 17 percent combined OIR-sortie increase by supporting operations over Iraq, according to the release. Air Combat Command awarded the wing the 2015 Meritorious Unit Award for its accomplishments.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.