A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 121st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron takes off from the runway at Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, prior to flying to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, for Exercise Sky Shield III, July 31, 2021. Sky Shield is a bilateral defensive counter air and combat search and rescue exercise designed to validate U.S. Air Forces Central and Qatar Emiri Air Force’s combined capability to defend regional airspace. The event allowed the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing to demonstrate its agile combat employment capabilities of repositioning forces in various locations and rapidly generating combat airpower. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Caleb Pavao)