A C-130 transport deployed to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia surpassed 30,000 flight hours during a Nov. 23 mission. The aircraft, with serial number 63-7883, landed with zero defects and 30,002.5 hours on it after its historic flight. “When flying aircraft every day which are older than most of the crew members, it’s a real pleasure to fly such a clean and well-maintained example,” said MSgt. Steve Vaughn, 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron flight engineer. Flying for 30,000 hours equates to circling the Earth more than 350 times when traveling at 250 knots and hauling hundreds of thousands of passengers and millions of pounds of cargo. (386th AEW report by MSgt. Ben Miller)
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department needs to upgrade its electronic warfare capability and its EW training ranges; just as his predecessor said at his own confirmation hearing.