Ogden Air Logistics Complex redelivered a Wyoming Air National Guard C-130H after 14 months of work to repair damage from a landing accident at Hill AFB, Utah, last year, officials announced. “A lot of creativity and ingenuity was needed since many of the C-130H structural parts that were needed are no longer made,” Hill ANG Advisor Col. Steve Mehring said in a release. “It was akin to rebuilding a classic car.” The 153rd Airlift Wing aircraft was conducting firefighting operations Aug. 17, 2014, when the aircraft’s nose landing gear failed to extend properly, causing $850,000 in damage to the underside of the aircraft. “They reskinned everything on the bottom. It looks brand new,” added 153rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Todd Davis. Serial number 92-1533 was ferried back to its home base in Cheyenne, Oct. 13.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.