Air National Guard fighter wing preps for alert missions at Tyndall

An F-16 from the 179th Fighter Squadron, a subordinate unit of the 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth, Minn., flies a mission over the Gulf of Mexico Jan. 27. The 148th FW is working with the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., for two weeks to train for their Air Sovereignty Alert missions and to validate their new Block 50 F-16s. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Christopher Hoskins)

WC -130J aircraft

A WC-130J aircraft used by Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters flies near the eyewall of Hurricane Dean. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Slurry drop

A C-130 uses aerial firefighting equipment known as the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System to drop red-colored retardant, or ‘slurry’ as it is sometimes called, from the plane into the air over a fire. MAFFS was established by Congress in the early 1970s to create a national response system to better fight major fires. (U.S. Air Force Photo)

Slurry drop

A C-130 uses aerial firefighting equipment known as the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System to drop red-colored retardant, or ‘slurry’ as it is sometimes called, from the plane into the air over a fire. MAFFS was established by Congress in the early 1970s to create a national response system to better fight major fires. (U.S. Air Force Photo)

Water drop

A C-130 Hercules cargo plane assigned to the 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard, drops 3,000 gallons of water using Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) during the MAFFS 2008 annual certifying event. The annual training event includes all aircrew, maintenance, support personnel directly supporting the MAFFS mission. There are 4 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units involved with MAFFS: 145th Airlift Wing, (Charlotte), 146th Airlift Wing (Channel Islands), 153rd Airlift Wing, (Wyoming) and the 302nd Airlift Wing (Colorado). Photo By Tech Sgt Brian E. Christiansen, N.C. Air National Guard Public Affairs.

Raptors such as these have been used to conduct air patrols around Cape Canaveral during shuttle launches.

F-22 fighter aircraft patrol areas around critical infrastucture. Raptors such as these have been used to conduct air patrols around Cape Canaveral during shuttle launches.