AWACS

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Annie Coney, Senior Airman Jeremiah Snyder and Airman 1st Class Madelyn Kirin, E-3 Sentry (AWACS) airborne sensor operators with the 964th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron, monitor aircraft over Afghanistan, Feb. 29, 2012. The mission of the 964th EAACS is to provide an accurate, real-time picture of the battlespace to the Joint Air Operations Center. The E-3 Sentry crew also provides situational awareness of friendly, neutral and hostile activity, command and control of an area of responsibility, battle management of theater forces, all-altitude and all-weather surveillance of the battle space, and early warning of enemy actions during joint, allied, and coalition operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Greg C. Biondo)(Released)

AWACS

Capt. Mitchell Hudson, a E-3 Sentry (AWACS) navigator with the 964th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron, monitors flight plans over Afghanistan, Feb. 29, 2012. The mission of the 964th EAACS is to provide an accurate, real-time picture of the battlespace to the Joint Air Operations Center. The E-3 Sentry crew also provides situational awareness of friendly, neutral and hostile activity, command and control of an area of responsibility, battle management of theater forces, all-altitude and all-weather surveillance of the battle space, and early warning of enemy actions during joint, allied, and coalition operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Greg C. Biondo)(Released)

Sentry at sunset

SOUTHWEST ASIA -Maintenance Airmen prepare an E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control systems aircraft for takeoff while an F-15C Eagle flies by Jan. 5, 2012. The E-3 is deployed to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. An E-3 crew from Kadena Air Base, Japan, coordinated the rescue of a crashed AH-64 Apache helicopter crew in Afghanistan Dec. 30, 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Arian Nead)

Deployed officer sets all-time record for flying hours in E-3 Sentry

Maj. Jon Williams, a mission crew commander for the 963rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron, sits for an interview with Master Sgt. Chance Babin, the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing public affairs specialist Sept. 5, 2011, at an air base in Southwest Asia. Williams reached 10,195 flying hours on the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, Sept. 5, setting the all-time record for hours flown since the aircraft became operational in the Air Force in 1977. Williams is deployed from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech Sgt. Patrick Mitchell)

Deployed officer sets all-time record for flying hours in E-3 Sentry

Maj. Jon Williams, a mission crew commander for the 963rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron, exits an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, after setting a new Air Force record Sept. 5, 2011 at an air base in Southwest Asia. Williams reached 10,195 flying hours on the AWACS Sept. 5, setting the all-time record for hours flown since the aircraft became operational in the Air Force in 1977. Williams hails from Colorado but now calls Edmond, Okla., his home. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech Sgt. Patrick Mitchell)

Deployed officer sets all-time record for flying hours in E-3 Sentry

A flightline crew member at an air base in Southwest Asia marshals in the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, in which Maj. Jon Williams, a mission crew commander for the 963rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron, flew a record-setting flight. Williams reached 10,195 flying hours on the AWACS Sept. 5, 2011, setting the all-time record for hours flown since the aircraft became operational in the Air Force in 1977. Williams hails from Colorado but now calls Edmond, Okla., his home. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech Sgt. Patrick Mitchell)