Crews from the California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield are now certified to operate 660-gallon water buckets from their HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, making the wing USAF’s only rescue unit qualified for fighting fires. The wing has been operating in this role from Mather Air Reserve Base to help fight the wildfires that have ravaged large parts of California. It has simultaneously maintained its alert posture for search and rescue and medical evacuation. “Our search-and-rescue mission, coupled with the fire bucket certification, adds to the state’s broad range of fire fighting capabilities,” said Col. Amos Bagdasarian, 129th RQW commander. The wing’s certification paves the way for other rescue wings to train and be cleared for the mission. (Mather report by Capt. Alyson M. Teeter)
Due to the prolonged delay in deliveries of the Tech Refresh 3 version of the F-35 fighter, Denmark is pulling six of its TR-2-configured F-35 jets stationed in the U.S. back to home base in order to consolidate aircraft and get better training for its pilots and maintainers, the Danish…