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KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- From flying into Category 5 hurricanes and atmospheric rivers to testing combat capability during a forward-deployed inspection, the 403rd Wing’s Reserve Citizen Airmen spent 2025 enhancing readiness, developing Airmen, and transforming how the wing generates combat power.
Amid a high operations tempo and fiscal uncertainty, wing Airmen focused on three priorities: Airmen Readiness, Airmen Development and a Transformative and Effective Wing.
“Our Airmen stepped into a challenging year and never flinched,” said Col. Jaret T. Fish, 403rd Wing commander. “They trained hard, deployed forward, innovated in contested environments and still found time to invest in each other and our community.”
Ready Now: Global Mobility
In 2025, the 815th Airlift Squadron “Flying Jennies” and 803rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron showcased the 403rd Wing’s tactical airlift power across three major exercises in the United States and Europe, proving they can rapidly project combat capability with allies and partners.
In May, during Swift Response 2025, the 815th AS deployed two C-130J Super Hercules aircraft and more than 50 Citizen Airmen to the European theater. Over two weeks, crews executed 28 sorties and 62 flying hours, and delivered more than 150,000 pounds of cargo and 150 passengers, including rapid High Mobility Artillery Rocket System delivery and extraction and short-field austere landing zone operations in support of NATO Joint Forcible Entry training.
In August, the 815th AS and 803rd AMXS also strengthened joint readiness during Northern Strike 25-2 at Michigan’s National All-Domain Warfighting Center. Forty-eight Airmen supported the National Guard Bureau’s largest multi-component, multi-national exercise and helped test a new expeditionary runway repair concept, becoming the first to land a large U.S. aircraft on a fiber-reinforced polymer panel surface—demonstrating how damaged airfields can be rapidly restored in austere environments.
Wrapping up the year, the Flying Jennies completed a six-week Silver Arrow rotation in Europe in the fall, logging more than 100 flight hours, executing 42 sorties, moving 186 tons of cargo and transporting nearly 100 personnel. Crews integrated with Ramstein-based C-130Js and supported 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron training, delivering cargo and munitions to multiple locations in support of U.S. and NATO objectives.
At home, in May, the 36th AES and 815th AS teamed up with the U.S. Navy Special Operations Tactical Medic Course at Stennis International Airport, Miss., executing a high-impact field training exercise that linked tactical medicine, aeromedical evacuation, and special operations airlift.
Hurricane Hunters: From Storms to Atmospheric Rivers
For the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron “Hurricane Hunters,” 2025 was defined by intensity. Across the Atlantic, eastern Pacific and central Pacific basins, crews flew 927.9 hours, providing forecasters with critical data that improved warnings and helped protect millions of people along vulnerable coastlines. Aircrews flew into Hurricanes Barry, Chantal, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Imelda, Jerry and Melissa, as well as multiple investigative areas, including systems in the northern Gulf of Mexico and near the Windward Islands. Three storms—Erin, Humberto and Melissa—reached Category 5 strength, and Melissa became the second sub-900 millibar hurricane the unit had flown in as many seasons, underscoring a trend of powerful, rapidly intensifying storms.
The squadron’s most demanding mission came late in the season when Tropical Storm Melissa rapidly intensified over the Caribbean. From a forward operating location in Curaçao, 53rd WRS aircrews flew 17 missions and 170 hours over seven days.
Each year in November, the squadron supports atmospheric river missions—long, narrow corridors of moisture that can bring extreme rainfall and flooding to the western United States. Early in 2025, crews operated from Mather Airfield, California; their home station at Keesler; and, for the first time, from Yokota Air Base, Japan. Flying between 24,000 and 32,000 feet, they dropped sensor-laden dropsondes into these systems to capture data that satellites, and ground stations cannot provide.
As 2025 closes, the Hurricane Hunters are once again supporting the winter atmospheric river season, continuing a mission that bookends their year on both sides of hurricane operations.
A Test of Combat Readiness
Airmen across the wing sharpened their expeditionary skills through Ready Airmen Training and a combat readiness inspection designed to mirror real-world deployments.
In May, units completed a four-day Ready Airmen Training “rodeo” during the Unit Training Assembly, combining chemical biological, radiological and nuclear defense training, patient movement in mission oriented protective posture gear, land mobile radio communications, and small arms refresher training. The event brought deploying Airmen together to complete core warfighting requirements in a single, integrated venue.
In October, more than 380 Airmen participated in Combat Reach, the wing’s first off-station Combat Readiness Inspection, held at the Savannah Air National Guard Base, Ga. The forward-deployed inspection tested the wing’s ability to rapidly mobilize, deploy and sustain operations at a contested location while responding to scenarios ranging from cargo generation and perimeter security to CBRN response and patient movement.
Despite manpower gaps and leadership vacancies, the wing became the first Air Force Reserve Command unit to complete a forward-deployed combat readiness inspection during a government shutdown.
“What this wing accomplished in October is extraordinary,” Fish said. “Our Wing of Choice Airmen deliberately set the bar high during a period of uncertainty. The way they performed—despite funding concerns, competing mission demands and the friction of forward deployment—proved we are ready to answer the nation’s call.”
Developing Airmen, Growing the Next Generation
The wing expanded its developmental programs in 2025 to better equip current Airmen and inspire future ones.
The 403rd University and Enlisted Reserve Orientation Course held their second graduation Feb. 8, , bringing together new enlisted reservists for mentorship, networking and foundational education on Reserve careers. The program, led by the wing’s Professional Development Council, helps bridge gaps in access to mentorship and career-broadening opportunities often more readily available on the active-duty side.
Administrative and personnel professionals from across Keesler attended the inaugural 403rd Wing Commander Support Staff Training Conference June 5-6 at the Sablich Center. The event focused on hands-on training, expert briefings and networking to prepare CSS and unit program coordinators for the upcoming personnel and administration career-field merger.
Recruiting and outreach also remained a priority. The wing hosted a Junior ROTC career event for local high school cadets, an Employer Day for civilian employers and multiple tours and flight experiences for Civil Air Patrol cadets during a week-long encampment at Keesler. The wing also deepened ties with the Gulf Coast community through Day at Keesler and the 2025 Honorary Commander Program Induction, which welcomed 17 civic leaders as partners in telling the Reserve story.
Morale, Resilience and Transformative Leadership
Wing leaders invested in morale and resilience with events that blended fitness, competition and warrior ethos. The Warrior Annual Awards and Warrior Challenge highlighted Outstanding Airmen of the Year while pushing teams through physically demanding events.
During the April UTA, the 403rd Wing Gauntlet replaced a traditional Family Day with a squadron-based field competition for more than 500 participants during events designed to enhance esprit de corps. In May, the wing conducted its first Battle Forged Run, a team-based, mission-oriented endurance event featuring mobilization drills, weighted carries and a casualty evacuation scenario.
The year also brought key leadership transitions. Fish assumed command of the 403rd Wing Aug. 3, and Col. Richard Konopcynski become the wing deputy commander. Col. Stuart L. Martin took command of the 403rd Maintenance Group, Col. Stephen Pituch, assumed command of the 403rd Operations Group, and new commanders stepped into the 403rd Operations Support Squadron, 403rd Maintenance Squadron, 403rd Aeromedical Staging Squadron and 403rd Communications Flight. The wing also held its first Command Chief Change of Responsibility Ceremony, marking the transition from Chief Master Sgt. David Jackson to Chief Master Sgt. Tige “Tiger” Platt.
“From preparing for deployments and hurricane reconnaissance to professional development and community outreach, our Airmen delivered when it mattered most,” Fish said. “They proved that readiness is more than a checklist—it’s a culture. I am proud of what they accomplished this year, and I’m confident our Wing of Choice will continue to set the standard in 2026 and beyond.”
| Date Taken: | 12.30.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.30.2025 10:00 |
| Story ID: | 555373 |
| Location: | KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Year in Review: 403rd Wing Ready Now in 2025, by Lt. Col. Marnee Losurdo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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