The airmen of the 41st Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron have flown more than 2,000 combat missions supporting operations in Afghanistan since Operation Enduring Freedom began there in fall 2001. The airmen, deployed from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., operate and maintain the service’s few and elderly EC-130H Compass Call aircraft along with their counterparts in the 43rd EECS, who provide the same capability to disrupt enemy command and control communications for operations in Iraq. The 43rd EECS marked passage of its 3,000th sortie earlier this year. As operations ramp up in Afghanistan, the numbers for the 41st EECS are likely to go up faster. (Bagram report by Capt. David Faggard)
After years of serving as the bill-payer for other Pentagon priorities, munitions stockpiles are poised to get a major boost from the $150 billion reconciliation package unveiled by lawmakers in Congress this week, along with the defense industrial base to...