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)
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.
