Air Force Space Command’s 76th Helicopter Squadron, Vandenberg AFB, Calif., has been working with US Northern Command’s Joint Task Force-North in its effort to seize approximately $294 billion worth of marijuana. The NORTHCOM-run JTF-N, operating out of Ft. Bliss, Tex., comprises active duty, reserve, DOD civilian, and contract personnel who support federal law enforcement agencies in the interdiction of “transnational threats,” including terrorism, illegal alien smuggling, narcotics trafficking, and smuggling weapons of mass destruction. The task force covers operations within and along approaches to the US. The 76th HS used its UH-1Ns to identify marijuana fields grown in remote areas of California’s Central Coast.
Clearing jungle and laying asphalt in tropical heat may not sound like fun to most people, but it’s a way of life for Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Airmen, who have spent the past year or so restoring World War II-era airfields on the Pacific…