The first and only USAF C-130 squadron based in the Southwest Asia theater has one airlifter that is hauling not supplies but a communications suite to provide better communications capability for ground convoys. Personnel from all the services operate the Joint Airborne Command and Control Command Post—or Jackpot to squadron members—which fits into the back of a 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130 and relays communications. Officials say the Jackpot system, in the few weeks it has flown, has gotten praise from ground commanders.
The House and Senate passed a continuing resolution Sept. 25 to keep the government funded through Dec. 20, and President Joe Biden has indicated he will sign the legislation. Under a CR, the Department of the Air Force said, space launch and testing modernization will fall short and technologies that…