A 21-ship C-130 formation launched from Dyess AFB, Texas, during a late June joint forcible entry exercise was the largest such formation to launch from the base since 1981, 7th Bomb Wing spokeswoman A1C Kedesha Pennant told Air Force Magazine Tuesday. USAF’s Weapons School class 14-A joined with Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to successfully carry out the largest Air Force-led rehearsal of a global response force JFE, helping to improve airborne insertion tactics, techniques, and procedures in anti-access scenarios, said Pennant. Hercules from the 317th Airlift Group, and units from eight other bases, launched from Dyess after six weeks of preparation, according to Dyess officials.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.