Arkansas 188th Flying Razorbacks mark decade of combat operations
Members of the 188th Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard are celebrating a decade of combat operations at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith.
The Flying Razorbacks conduct global intelligence and combat missions from the base, supporting operations thousands of miles away. Commanders say the unit has participated in many high-profile missions over the past 10 years, but details remain classified.
“In major combat operations that you’re seeing on the news, there’s a high likelihood that your Flying Razorbacks are participating in some capacity,” 188th Wing Cmdr. Col. Jonathan Esparza said. “Beyond that, I can’t tell you.”
The unit operates the MQ-9 Reaper, a $30 million remotely piloted aircraft that is nearly the size of a fighter jet. The aircraft deploys from locations around the world while members of the 188th Wing operate its systems from Fort Smith.
The 188th Wing is one of 12 Air National Guard units that operate the MQ-9 Reaper. Since 2016, the Flying Razorbacks have completed more than 3,000 missions and logged nearly 60,000 flight hours.
“We’re celebrating these airmen because they put in a lot of work,” 188th Operations Group Cmdr. Lt. Col. Daniel Munoz said. “They’ve taken on a lot of risk. Even though they’re close to home and their families, they still take on a lot of mental burden flying this aircraft.”
Airmen can transition from combat operations to family life within the same day, according to 184th Attack Squadron Cmdr. Lt. Col. Jonathan Linn.
“From the outside looking in, a lot of people may think that the idea is it’s remotely operated, it’s a video game,” Linn said. “None of our people here view it that way because we realize what’s on the other side of that screen.”
More than 1,000 Flying Razorbacks serve at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, and most are not pilots. Team members help identify targets and track the locations of friendly forces.
“They’re the ones who are helping us identify the targets, making sure we have the right bad guys doing the right things,” 188th Operations Support Squadron Cmdr. Joshua Alexander said.
In addition to the Foreign Military Sales Pilot Training Mission that's underway at the guard base, members of the 188th Wing also support communities during natural disasters in the United States and abroad. According to Esparza, the unit’s current intelligence and surveillance mission has no scheduled end date.