‘Gamblers’ and ‘Rocketeers’ deploy
F-16Cs operated by the 20th Fighter
Wing’s 77th Fighter Squadron
deployed from Shaw AFB, South
Carolina, to Bagram Airfield,
Afghanistan, in support of combat
operations on October 26. The
‘Gamblers’ replaced the 555th
Expeditionary Fighter Squadron,
which returned to Aviano Air Base,
Italy, after completing its six-month
deployment in support of Operation
‘Freedom’s Sentinel’. While deployed
as the 77th Expeditionary Fighter
Squadron the unit will be assigned
to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing/
Expeditionary Operations Group.
F-15Es assigned to the 336th
Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
deployed to an undisclosed location
in South-west Asia in late October
and replaced the 492nd EFS, which
returned to RAF Lakenheath,
England. While supporting Operation
‘Inherent Resolve’ the ‘Rocketeers’
are assigned to the 332nd Air
Expeditionary Wing. The squadron
is normally part of the 4th Fighter
Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, North
Carolina.‘Blue Foxes’ to Nellis
Personnel from the 18th Aggressor
Squadron deployed from Eielson
AFB, Alaska, to Nellis AFB, Nevada, to
initially support the F-16 weapons
instructor course (WIC) at the US Air
Force Weapons School. The squadron
sent 11 F-16Cs to Nellis for a six-
month stay. They are scheduled to
participate in several more exercises
before returning to Eielson for the
2018 ‘Red Flag — Alaska’ season,
which will entail four joint exercises.‘Badgers’ return
The Wisconsin Air National Guard’s
176th Expeditionary Fighter
Squadron completed a three-month
theater security package deployment
to Kunsan Air Base, Korea, in support
of US Pacific Command. The unit,
a component of the 115th Fighter
Wing, returned to its home base in
Madison on November 8.‘Triple Nickel’ back home
The 31st Fighter Wing’s 555th Fighter
Squadron has returned to Aviano
Air Base, Italy, at the conclusion of a
six-month deployment to Bagram,Afghanistan. While supporting
Operation ‘Freedom’s Sentinel’ as
the 555th Expeditionary Fighter
Squadron, the unit flew the highest
number of air strikes since July 2012.
During a six-month period from
April to September it completed the
highest total number of sorties since- The unit initially deployed 12
F-16Cs to Bagram but six additional
fighters arrived in August.
In related news, F-16Cs from the
31st FW’s 510th FS returned to Aviano
on November 16 after participating
in multi-national exercise ‘Blue Flag’
2017 at Ovda Air Base, Israel. The
squadron flew 91 sorties during the
exercise, which began on November - See also pages 88-92.
Reserve rescue squadron returns
The 943rd Rescue Group’s 305th
Rescue Squadron completed a five-
month deployment to Afghanistan
in mid-November when personnel
returned to Davis-Monthan AFB,
Arizona. While deployed to Bagram,
aircrew, support and maintenance
personnel were assigned to the 83rd
Expeditionary Rescue Squadron
(ERQS). Following departure of
the Air Force Reserve Command
unit’s HH-60Gs, the responsibility
for the rotary-wing portion of the
combat search and rescue (CSAR)
mission in Afghanistan was passed
from the USAF to the US Army.
Although the former will retain
responsibility for the overall mission,
its pararescuemen and combat
rescue officers (CROs) will be flying
on Army CH-47Fs rather than air
force HH-60Gs. In preparation forthe change one of the 83rd ERQS’s
HH-60Gs flew a familiarization
mission with a pair of Army CH-47Fs
from Bagram on October 22.‘Mad Fox’ milestone
Patrol squadron VP-5’s deployment
to Co-operative Security Location
(CSL) Comalapa, El Salvador, marks
the first time that the P-8A Poseidon
has been employed in counter-
narcotic operations in support of
Operation ‘Martillo’. The ‘Mad Foxes’
relieved a detachment of P-3Cs
from VP-9 Golden ‘Eagles’. Just one
month into the deployment two
combat air crews (CAC) have already
intercepted drug shipments and
were instrumental in the seizure of
a self-propelled semi-submersible
(SPSS) watercraft carrying 2,200kg
of cocaine. VP-5 is conducting a split
site deployment and has aircraft
and crews at NAS Sigonella, Italy, in
addition to Comalapa.Apache Guardians arrive in
Europe
November’s arrival of the 1st Air
Cavalry Brigade (ACB) in Germany
marked the inaugural deployment
of the Boeing AH-64E in Europe.
Operated by the 1st Battalion, 227th
Aviation Regiment, the 24 Apache
Guardians will primarily be stationed
at Illesheim Army Air Field, Germany.
Normally stationed at Fort Hood,
Texas, the brigade will spend nine
months supporting Operation
‘Atlantic Resolve’. It formally relieved
the 10th Mountain Division’s combat
aviation brigade on November 7,
allowing it to return to Fort Drum,New York. The 1st ACB’s
complement of 12 CH-47Fs, 38
UH-60Ms, 15 HH-60Ms and
AH-64Es arrived in Belgium in
October and the bulk of the
aircraft later flew to Illesheim or to
Katterbach Army Airfield. While in
Europe, the brigade headquarters
will be located at Storck Barracks,
and will deploy assets to Latvia,
Poland, Hungary, Romania, and
Bulgaria for operational exercises.‘Arctic Shield’ winds down
The US Coast Guard concluded its
annual Operation ‘Arctic Shield’ and
shut down its forward operating
location in Kotzebue, Alaska, on
November 6. Two MH-60Ts were
deployed to Ralph Wien Memorial
Airport to provide better response
times and coverage to remote
regions of the state. Missions
carried out during ‘Arctic Shield’,
which began on July 1, included
support for search and rescue (SAR),
Arctic domain awareness flights,
and other federal agency missions.
The helicopters returned to Air
Station Kodiak after responding to
20 SAR cases, saving 16 lives and
assisting 23 others. In related news,
the air station opened its seasonal
FOL at Cold Bay Airport on October- A single MH-60T helicopter is
deployed to the facility to reduce
SAR response times for fishermen in
Bristol Bay, the Aleutian Islands and
the Bering Sea. Air Station Kodiak
also provides an MH-60C that
operates from a deployed Coast
Guard cutter that patrols the fishing
grounds.
DEPLOYMENT NEWS
HH-60G serial 90-26226 operated by the 83rd Expeditionary Rescue
Squadron departs Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, on October 22 at the
start of a joint flight with two US Army CH-47Fs in preparation for the
Chinooks to assume the combat rescue mission from the Pave Hawks.
USAF/SSgt Benjamin Gonsierhttp://www.combataircraft.net January 201814
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