Airmen of the Connecticut Air National Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing, the Flying Yankees, at Bradley ANG Base in East Granby left last month on a deployment to Southwest Asia, the unit’s first overseas stint with its new C-21 transports. The Connecticut Air Guardsmen, all of whom volunteered for the two-month tour, relieved members of the North Dakota ANG’s 119th Wing, the Happy Hooligans, who spent two months performing their own inaugural C-21 rotation in the combat theater. Just as the 119th Wing did, the 103rd AW dispatched its own mechanics with the C-21s from its 118th Airlift Squadron and is not relying on contractors in theater to keep these aircraft flying. “We’ve proven that we can effectively provide maintenance at home station and now have the opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities in a deployed location,” said Lt. Col. Jerry McDonald, commander of the 103rd Maintenance Group. (Aug. 11 Bradley report by TSgt. Josh Mead)
Fresh off its most ambitious test yet of an autonomous cargo plane, the Air Force is preparing to go even bigger by deploying and operating another such aircraft for an entire year.
