Two C-130s and about 60 airmen from Air Force Reserve Command’s 910th Airlift Wing have returned home to Youngstown ARS, Ohio, after five weeks of supporting efforts in the Gulf of Mexico to clean up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. From the time of their deployment to Stennis Airport, Miss., on May 1 until their return home on June 4, Youngstown aircrews flew 92 sorties with their two specially equipped C-130s, spraying 30,000 acres of Gulf waters with nearly 149,000 gallons of aerial spray dispersant to break up the oil. “We’re very proud to have supported this cleanup effort,” said Col. Fritz Linsenmeyer, 910th AW commander. Civilian airplanes are now performing the oil-dispersant mission in the Gulf. (Youngstown release)
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.