The Air Force’s first active associate unit, the 30th Airlift Squadron, which partnered with the Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing in Cheyenne just over a year ago, will deploy as a unit this month to Balad AB, Iraq, reports SSgt. LuCelia Ball. As an associate unit, the 30th AS doesn’t own its aircraft, so it is taking two of the C-130H3 airlifters of the 153rd AW. Despite startup issues with this unique unit, as we reported earlier, the aircrews and maintainers learned the ropes quickly—the aircrews had not flown the H3 version of the Hercules—and began deploying as part of combined crews with their Air Guard partners within a few months of activation.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.