MC-12W Liberty surveillance crews have ended operations at one airfield in Afghanistan, leaving one squadron of the specially made aircraft to cover the area.
The 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, based at Kandahar Airfield, deactivated earlier this month.
The last Liberty assigned to that squadron returned home to Beale Air Force Base, California, on Sept. 22.
The squadron stood up in May 2010, and flew 115,000 combat flight hours, flew overwatch of more than 50,000 friendly forces and scanned about 13,000 kilometers, according to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing.
"Our accomplishments were tremendous," said Lt. Col. Thomas Yeager, the prior 361st ERS director of operations, in a release. "My hat's off to the young men and women who support this program, working around the clock in rotations, some deploying four or five times with three thousand plus combat hours."
The unit deactivated during a ceremony Sept. 1 at Kandahar.
"To see the success that these airmen have achieved in this battle space is nothing short of amazing. I know there is so much more we could do in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, so that's the bittersweet part," Lt. Col. James Mansard, prior commander of the 361 ERS, said at the ceremony.
The unit was responsible for overwatch of 190 vehicle interdictions, 150 drug caches, 320 weapons caches and killing 890 enemies, with another 950 detained, Col. Rhude Cherry III, commander of the 451st Air Expeditionary Group, said at the ceremony.
The deactivation of the 361st means that there's one last MC-12 squadron operating in Afghanistan — the 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron stationed at Bagram Airfield, according to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing. The 4th ERS has been operating at Bagram since 2009.
Airmen from Beale rotate through Bagram and fly as the 4th ERS.
There is no current end date for their operations.
The MC-12 program began in 2008 as a way to quickly outfit Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350s with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment to address needs in Iraq.
The Air Force, in its fiscal 2015 budget proposal, plans to transfer the aircraft to U.S. Special Operations Command to replace the U-28A.
Congress directed the Defense Department to justify the transfer in the markup of the 2015 budget, which won't be approved until later this year, when Congress reconvenes after the November elections.
