146th Airlift Wing

08/13/2026

Last Sunday, the 146th Airlift Wing brought the fun for Family Day! ☀️🏁

Airmen and their families came out in their best combat dining out attire for a day filled with food, games, laughs and a little friendly competition. Even our commanders got put to the test, going head-to-head in a relay race! 🏃‍♂️‍➡️🏃‍♀️‍➡️

From the games to the good food and even better company, it was a great day to step away from the mission for a bit and enjoy time with our Wing family.

Thanks to everyone who came out and made it such a fun Family Day! 🇺🇸

08/02/2026

07/15/2026

07/11/2026

California National Guard personnel assigned to the 146th Airlift Wing load a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) into a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft at Channel Islands Air National Guard Station, Port Hueneme, California, July 9, 2026. The 146th Airlift Wing was activated in coordination with the National Interagency Fire Center, the U.S. Forest Service and the MAFFS - Air Expeditionary Group positioning two MAFFS-equipped C-130J aircraft to support initial aerial firefighting operations for the Summit Fire. Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard C-130 aircraft assigned to wings in California, Colorado, Nevada, and Wyoming are capable of dropping fire retardant using U.S. Forest Service Modular Airborne Fire Fighting (MAFFS)-equipped aircraft. Aircrews, maintenance crews, and support personnel undergo special National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) training and certification to perform these missions each year. (U.S. Air National Guard video by Master Sgt. Nieko Carzis/ Aerial Drop footage by:

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06/11/2026

NEWS:
When most people think about military communications, they picture radios, computers and internet connections. 💻

What they don’t see is the work required to make those systems function in places where the infrastructure doesn’t already exist. 📞

Airmen from the 146th Communications Squadron recently put those skills to the test while supporting a U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group 15 training exercise at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado, California. 🏝️

The team deployed satellite communications equipment and networking capabilities to help support the exercise while working alongside Navy personnel to improve communication between the two services. 📡

“At home station, we’re mostly supporting enterprise infrastructure,” said Staff Sgt. Marco Vasquez, a cyber security specialist assigned to the 146th Communications Flight. “This is more agile. We’re setting up satellites, moving equipment around, troubleshooting and making sure we’re connected to the right satellite so everything works.” 🏠

The training allowed Airmen to practice a different side of their mission than what they typically perform at Channel Islands Air National Guard Station. Rather than maintaining established networks, the team was responsible for building communications capabilities from the ground up and ensuring users could access the resources they needed to support the exercise. 📈

“We set up a satellite, established connectivity and provided communications capabilities for them to use,” Vasquez said. “If we were somewhere without internet, we could provide that capability if it was needed.”

Operating in a field environment also required Airmen to adapt to conditions and equipment outside of their normal day-to-day responsibilities. The mission gave the team an opportunity to sharpen expeditionary skills, troubleshoot problems in real time and gain experience supporting a customer from another service. 👍

In addition to establishing communications, the exercise gave Airmen and Sailors an opportunity to work through challenges that can arise when different services need to communicate using different systems and procedures. 💪

“It’s important for all the branches to be able to communicate together,” said Staff Sgt. Christopher Jolly, a cyber systems technician assigned to the 146th Communications Squadron. “The Air Force has no trouble communicating with itself, and the Navy has no trouble communicating with itself, but integrating the two together is important so we can all come together for whatever mission may arise in the future.”

One focus of the training involved identifying issues with radio communications and working collaboratively to find solutions.

According to Jolly, the process required close coordination between the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy personnel to better understand how each service operates and how their systems can work together during future missions. 🛫

“We’re meeting with the Navy’s radio personnel and our personnel to come up with ways to better integrate Air Force and Navy communications,” Jolly said.

While not every challenge was solved immediately, the exercise provided valuable lessons that can be applied during future training events and real-world operations. ✍️

For the Airmen involved, the experience reinforced the importance of flexibility, communication and teamwork when operating alongside partner organizations. 🤝

For the communications Squadron, the training provided an opportunity to apply technical skills in a joint environment while strengthening relationships with a sister service.

Maj. Joshua Cochran, commander of the 146th Communications Squadron, said opportunities to train alongside other branches help Airmen develop expeditionary communications skills while improving interoperability across the joint force. He said the Airmen’s performance during the exercise demonstrated the adaptability and technical expertise required to support missions outside of home station.
Exercises like the one at Naval Air Station North Island allow communications Airmen to move beyond the classroom and apply their knowledge in realistic scenarios. ✅

By working through technical challenges and supporting mission partners in the field, Airmen gain experience that helps prepare them for future operations wherever their skills may be needed. 🫡

As military operations continue to rely on coordination between multiple services, exercises like these help communications Airmen prepare to provide reliable connectivity in a variety of environments and mission sets.

(U.S. Air National Guard Photos by Tech. Sgt. Michelle Ulber)

05/05/2026

The 146th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron put their skills to the test during Exercise Sentry South 26-2 💪✈️

From the tight quarters of a Blackhawk to the versatility of a V-22 Osprey and the power of multiple C-130 aircraft, our Airmen trained across platforms alongside joint partners—because real-world missions don’t happen in just one environment.

Readiness means adapting anywhere, anytime—and this team is ready.

Sentry South 26-2 is a large force employment exercise focused on major combat operations and joint maritime opportunities in a contested or degraded operational environment. Sentry South 26-2 applies joint and combined warfighting doctrine against realistic and robust enemy integrated threat systems, all while under safe and controlled conditions. (U.S. Air National Guard video by Tech. Sgt. Nicole Wright)

05/05/2026

News:

Airmen from the 146th Airlift Wing completed the wing’s first of its kind Ready Airman Training (RAT) event from April 28 through May 1, 2026, equipping more than 500 personnel with critical pre-deployment skills over a four day period. ⚡️✈️

The large scale training effort focused on completing nearly all of the required pre-deployment training tasks across the Ready Airman Training areas through hands on instruction and in person briefings, replacing traditional computer based modules with interactive, scenario driven learning. 🎯📚

The shift reflects the U.S. Air Force’s transition to the Air Force Force Generation model, designed to better prepare forces for modern warfare through more deliberate and phased readiness cycles. By moving away from computer based training, Airmen were able to engage directly with subject matter experts, ask questions in real time and build practical proficiency across a wide range of mission requirements. 💡🛠️

“This is the first time we’ve executed RAT at this scale for the 146th,” said Lt. Col. Todd Morgan, 146th Airlift Wing plans officer. “We’ve never done it at this level before. Many of our counterpart wings have already been reaching out to us to understand how we built this so they can replicate it.”

Morgan said the training was developed in response to direction from wing leadership and broader changes across the Air Force.

“With the Air Force changing how it presents forces to combatant commanders, our wing commander asked us to create a template to ensure all our members receive the required Ready Airman Training,” he said. “This is about meeting those evolving requirements and preparing our Airmen for the way we deploy today.” 🇺🇸

The event brought together instructors, planners and support personnel from across the wing in a coordinated, all hands effort to execute the training. 🤝

“We were tasked to build a training that covered all of the Ready Airman Training areas,” Morgan said. “In four days, we were able to train nearly half the wing and complete so many of the requirements.”

By completing the majority of requirements under the new format, the wing significantly reduced future training bottlenecks and created additional time and flexibility for mission specific training as deployment windows approach. ⏱️

“This event allowed us to get ahead of the curve,” Morgan said. “By knocking out the bulk of these requirements now, we’re giving our Airmen more time to focus on mission specific training and ensuring they’re fully prepared when it matters most.”

Both leaders and participating Airmen responded positively to the training, noting the value of hands on instruction and expressing interest in expanding the concept in the future. 📈

“The initial response from our members was overwhelmingly positive,” Morgan said. “They’re asking for more involvement and more hands on training, especially in areas they don’t normally experience in their primary duties.”

Morgan said the wing is already looking at ways to expand training opportunities during future drill weekends by leveraging subject matter experts across different career fields. 🔧

“By giving Airmen exposure to training that they might not normally see day to day, it builds a more capable and confident force,” he said.

Morgan emphasized the event’s success while acknowledging it is only the beginning of a longer term shift in how the Air National Guard approaches readiness training.

“Ultimately, this was a success, but we’re going to keep improving it,” Morgan said. “We want to maximize training while minimizing the time we take our traditional Airmen away from their civilian lives. This will be a continual process as we refine how we prepare our Airmen to deploy.”



📸✍️ by Tech. Sgt. Michelle Ulber