Airmen with the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, completed 81 airdrops in April, setting a new mark for the busy C-130J unit. The April tally eclipsed the squadron’s previous record of 72 airdrops conducted in March. The airdrops quickly supply coalition ground troops and prevent ground convoys from having to make sometimes treacherous drives. “It means something. We could be saving somebody’s life,” said Capt. William McLeod, officer in charge of Kandahar’s 451st Expeditionary Airlift Maintenance Squadron. Keeping the C-130Js flying is no easy task for his maintainers, since the aircraft incur unique wear from operating in Afghanistan’s harsh sandy and rocky environment. (Kandahar report by TSgt. Emily F. Alley)
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.