A contingent of more than 200 airmen from the 34th Fighter Squadron and the 34th Aircraft Maintenance Unit last week returned home to Hill AFB, Utah, after a four-month deployment to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. The Deseret News reported May 29 that the arrival was bittersweet for these airmen because both units are slated to deactivate in July as part of the Air Force’s legacy fighter drawdown. The 34th FS, known as the “Rude Rams, is an F-16 unit. “It’s not a bad way to go out,” said Col. Scott Zobrist, commander of Hill’s 388th Fighter Wing, parent unit of the fighter squadron. He added, “It was a fantastic deployment. Everyone came back.” Hill is scheduled to lose 24 of its F-16s, but the Utah base is also a candidate to host the F-35 strike fighter.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
