Senior Airman Thriston Noel a 351st Air Refueling Squadron boom operators role in BALTOPS 2017. The U.S. Air Force is supporting this exercise with approximately 900 Airmen, eight F-16s from the 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano Air Base, Italy, four KC-135 Stratotankers from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, RAF Mildenhall, U.S. Air Force Reserve 459th Air Refueling Wing, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, one Air Force Reserve E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) from the 513th Aerial Control Group, B-52s from RAF Fairford, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma and Airmen from the 1st Combat Communication Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany are supporting this multinational exercise.
Rovaniemi Air Base, Finland – Twelve active-duty Airmen from the 1st Combat Communications Squadron (CBCS), two Air Force reservists from the 55th CBCS and five Air National Guardsmen from the 263rd CBCS, worked together for the first time as a total force integrated unit in support of the exercise Arctic Challenge 2017.
More than 50 aircraft from across Europe, including Germany, Poland, and the United States, are participating in this year’s BALTOPS exercise in the Baltic Region. Of the 50, there are three B-52H Stratofortresses from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and three B-1B Lancers from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. From inert-mine laying and recovery to rapid response simulations, the strategic use of bombers, along with tankers and fighter...
