An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

3,000 and counting – 43rd EECS passes sortie milestone

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Doscher
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The 43rd Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron flew its 3,000th sortie May 19 after five years of continuous deployment to Southwest Asia.

The 43rd EECS and the EC-130 Compass Calls they fly provide communications jamming support to U.S. and Coalition ground forces in Iraq.

Lt. Col. Kyle Forrer, 43rd EECS commander, said the milestone highlights the commitment and hard work of the EC-130 aircrew and maintainers who often fly sorties lasting up to 12 hours at a stretch and must keep up with a high operations tempo with a limited number of aircraft.

"It demonstrates the 'all in' attitude that prevails in our organization and our unfaltering commitment to support our troops in harm's way," the Tuscon, Ariz., native said. "The men and women of the 43rd EECS fully understand the importance of their mission and show a quiet professionalism while projecting airpower against current and emerging threats."

Deployed continuously since 2004 and always in high demand, the 43rd rotates aircrew from the squadron's home base at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., while providing non-lethal, non-kinetic fires in support of U.S. and Coalition forces. Most 43rd members have deployed to the squadron four or five times.

Capt. Benjamin Jody, aircraft commander during the 3,000th sortie, is on his fourth deployment and was with the squadron when it passed its 10,000th combat hour in 2007. He said it's the squadron's people that allow them to keep up with the fast-paced operations tempo.

"I'm pretty impressed that we've been able to keep the pace up this long," Captain Jody, deployed from Davis-Monthan AFB but originally from West Palm Beach, Fla., said. "It's a testament to the maintainers out here that we've been able to do this many sorties in that amount of time. That's with a limited number of aircraft, every night. It shows our commitment to getting the job done and our ability to adapt to the different taskings and the changing tactics of the enemy."

While 3,000 combat sorties in five years is impressive, Captain Jody said it didn't mean the job was done.

"We're here until there's no more need for us," he said. "Until the job is done, we'll be out there helping."

The 43rd EECS passed its 20,000th combat flight hour in February.