Up to the Challenge

Members of the Connecticut Air National Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing have been meeting all their mission requirements and maintaining a 100 percent mission success rate during their first deployment to Southwest Asia with their C-21 transports. Members of the wing—all volunteers—left for the combat theater in July. It was their first stint in the region in six years, and the first time they deployed with the C-21s since losing their A-10 ground-attack platforms courtesy of BRAC 2005. “The 103rd AW has definitely risen to the challenge,” said Lt. Col. Brian Burger, 379th Expeditionary Operations Group C-21 detachment commander. Maj. Wayne Ferris of the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron added, “Our numbers are off the charts. Our full mission-capable rate is 98.5 percent, and our fix rate is 100 percent with zero break rates.” (379th AEW report by SrA. Michael Matkin)