The Ohio Air National Guard’s 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield welcomed the first two of eight C-130Hs that it is taking on as part of a mission switch, according to a unit release. The two aircraft, formerly flown by the Alaska Air Guard, touched down at the Mansfield Lahm Airport on May 24, states the release. The wing is losing its four C-27J airplanes in this fiscal year as part of the Air Force’s divestiture of the C-27 fleet. In their place, it will receive the eight C-130s, along with nearly 200 extra personnel. All eight of the C-130s are slated to be in place by June 2016, according to unit officials. (Mansfield report by SSgt. Joseph Harwood)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.