The airmen of the 43rd Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, recently completed the unit’s 2,500th combat sortie flying the EC-130H Compass Call for Operation Iraqi Freedom, ably supported by the 386th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron’s Silver team, which covers the electronic attack aircraft. Airmen of both units are deployed from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. Since the first OIF deployment for the 43rd EECS in March 2004, the unit has flown more than 17,500 combat hours. At most, the unit has had three aircraft in theater at a time. Lt. Col. Robert Stonemark, leader of the 43rd EECS, credited the “outstanding dedication, hard work, and selflessness on the part of maintainers, aircrew, and support troops.” (43rd ECCS report by MSgt. Max Rippel)
While the Space Force is still making long-term plans to establish high-fidelity live and virtual test and training ranges in the coming years, officials say they're also working with operators to identify near-term gaps and quickly field capabilities to address them.
