TSgt. Justin Jackson over the course of 15 deployments and seven years has amassed more than 2,000 combat flying hours. He is a cryptologic linquist with the 42nd Electronic Combat Squadron, a dedicated EC-130H Compass Call training unit at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., and made his record flight on July 15 while deployed to Afghanistan with the 41st Expeditionary ECS, according to a July 21 release from Bagram AB, Afghanistan. Jackson flew his first combat sortie in October 2001 at the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. “I think it is fitting to hit this milestone in the same airspace that I started; it’s kind of brings it full-circle,” said Jackson. He noted that about 25 percent of the airmen in his field reach the 2,000-hour mark or better. (Bagram report by SSgt. Rachel Martinez)
The U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear development facilities saw the first use of the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a weapon specifically designed for such a mission more than 20 years ago. The Air Force B-2s were the only platform with the stealth and carrying capacity needed to haul the huge…