Lt. 
Col. James Roy, an A-10 pilot from Moody AFB, Ga., recently reached 1,000 combat flying hours in the cockpit of the A-10 ground-attack aircraft, according to officials at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, where Roy is currently deployed. “It is a very rare accomplishment to hit 1,000 hours in a career, period, let alone in one [area of responsibility] and on the same platform,” said Lt. Col. Marty Garrett, commander of Bagram’s 455th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron, in the base’s Dec. 20 release. “In comparing this to a 40-hour-a-week job, essentially, I’ve worked six months in the air over Afghanistan,” noted Roy, who is director of operations for the 455th EOSS. He has flown more than 250 missions; all of his 1,000 hours of combat time resulted from sorties launched from Bagram, according to the release. “Close air support is very gratifying,” said Roy. “You get to directly help somebody on the ground and you directly affect the battle,” he added. (Bagram report by SSgt. David Dobrydney)
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.