Return home
Approximately 150 Airmen from the 552nd Air Control Wing returned to Tinker May 27 from a four-month deployment to Southwest Asia in support of on-going operations in Afghanistan. Right, Maj. Kevin Cuartas, chief of weapons and tactics for the 965th Airborne Air Control Squadron, greets his daughter upon landing. During their deployment, 552nd ACW Airmen generated and flew 130 E-3 sorties providing command and control for more than 1,500 hours in Afghanistan and over the Arabian Gulf. They tracked more than 50,500 aircraft, directed 717 aerial refueling missions providing more than 27.1 million pounds of fuel to other airborne aircraft, and controlled more than 5,600 U.S. and coalition aircraft. They responded to 139 instances of U.S. and Coalition troops in contact with enemy forces and controlled aircraft to attack the enemy forces and save the lives of friendly ground troops. (Air Force photo by Ken Lafayette