Balad airlifters complete 25,000th combat sortie

Capt. Sara Kershaw, a C-130 Hercules aircraft commander with the 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, guides her co-pilot, Capt. Fray Doyle (not pictured), toward final approach into Baghdad International Airport Sept. 3. The 777th EAS carried approximately 25 passengers and 64,000 pounds of equipment on its 25,000th combat sortie. In total, the squadron has airlifted approximately 210,000 passengers and more than 98 million pounds of cargo since beginning operations at Joint Base Balad in February 2006. Kershaw and Doyle are deployed from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. Kershaw is originally from Lakewood, Colo., and Doyle hails from Union City, Tenn. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Don Branum)