Eight A-10s, a KC-135, and more than 200 airmen from bases around the US and Europe recently deployed to Estonia for training as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve. The A-10s, from 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., arrived at Amari Air Base on July 25 for the two-week exercise. The A-10s also are training with British, Estonian, Lithuanian, and Latvian joint terminal attack controllers during the exercise. Two A-10s and two British RAF Typhoon FGR4s flew over Tallinn, Estonia, on Tuesday as part of the demonstration of capabilities, and all eight A-10s successfully landed on and took off from a highway in the northeastern European country Monday, practice for when the aircraft is forced to land on alternative runways, Col. Gregory Eckfeld, vice commander of 442nd Fighter Wing, said in a press release. The participation of the KC-135 Stratotanker, from the 185th Air Refueling Wing of the Iowa Air National Guard, marks the first time airmen and aircraft from the 185th ARW are participating in a forward training deployment in Estonia, according to the wing. Airmen from the 442nd Medical Squadron and the 442nd Civil Engineering Squadron are also participating in the exercise.
The Air Force’s 375th Operations Group Detachment 1 is a group of 27 pilots, mission specialists, flying crew chiefs, and other staff who perform a little-known mission upon which military aviation relies: combat flight inspection, or CFIN.