Air Force F-16s and A-10s flew close air support to cover the rescue of an Army aircrew after its AH-64 Apache attack helicopter crashed in northern Afghanistan. The downed crew’s wingmen relayed a distress call through a nearby KC-135 tanker to an E-3 AWACS that broke off to assist in coordinating the recovery. “We knew the guys on the ground were going to need armed overwatch, so we called in the F-16s,” said Maj. Paul Lankes, AWACS mission crew boss during the Dec. 30 mission. Low on fuel, the Vipers rendezvoused with the KC-135 and then guarded the crew until relieved on station by a pair of A-10s that, in turn, kept watch until a rescue convoy arrived to extract the two-man Apache crew. “That kind of orchestration is what we do,” summed Capt. Joel Doss, AWACS electronic combat officer. (380th AEW report by SSgt. J.G. Buzanowski)
Watchdog Says Military Can Make Cyber Ops More Efficient
Sept. 17, 2025
The Government Accountability Office called for paring down the military's sprawling cyber enterprise in a recent report, amid renewed discussion about standing up a separate cyber force.
