250828-Z-JU667-1308
U.S. Air Force special tactics Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing is transported via a Kentucky Air National Guard C-130J Super Hercules in the cover of darkness after a more than 30-hour reconnaissance mission at former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Ceiba, Puerto Rico, Aug. 28, 2025 as part of Emerald Warrior 25.2, a large-scale special operations exercise staged in multiple locations by Air Force Special Operations Command. The Caribbean provides an ideal environment for testing the unit’s littoral and maritime capabilities, simulating many of the geographic features that special operators may encounter when deployed around the world to project air power in unfamiliar or contested environments. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Phil Speck)