Flying Jennies are back at Keesler Air Force Base

Today the Keesler Air Force Base celebrates the completion of the rebuilding of the 815th Airlift Squadron.
News 25’s Taylor Rubach got a closer look on the Air Force Base and gives us more on the Flying Jennies Airlift Mission.
Lt. Col. Stuart Rubio said, “We are at the point now where we are telling the Air Force we are ready to be deployed. We’re ready to go out to the combat zone and do the mission.”
It’s been a long five years for the 815th Airlift Squadron, feeling uncertain if the airlift unit will be no more at the Keesler Air Force Base. Luckily two years later in 2015, the decision was made at congress to keep the squadron of the Flying Jennies right here in Mississippi. “It was really challenging for the members of the squadron, not knowing what the future held and that lasted for a few years before the decision was finally made to keep us here. It really caused the challenge that we had to go through over the last two years, but the members of the squadron have done an enormous amount of work to get where we are right now,” said Rubio.
Staff Sgt. Tony DiStefano said, “It’s a proud moment for us. We’re fully operational again. We have full mission capabilities and it’s a great place to be.”
To celebrate the rebuilding of the 815th Airlift Squadron, the Flying Jennies are proving they are ready for takeoff to provide airmen to conduct the combat airlift mission. “So, we move equipment and we move personnel around the combat zone and we’ll either land at a base and drop it off or if there’s not a safe place to land, we’ll air drop it in,” said Rubio.
To help them with their mission they use the C-130 J aircraft, practicing weekly to prepare. “It’s the newest of the C130 fleet. This is the cargo specific version of the aircraft. It can carry quite a few tons of cargo. We can load Humvees and smaller vehicles into and we can bring them anywhere around the world,” said DiStefano.
“We’ll do some practice air drops. We’ll fly with night vision goggles. It’s all good training for what we we’re going to do overseas,” said Rubio.