250827-Z-JU667-1720
U.S. Air Force special tactics Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing test bags for buoyancy and leaks in Christiansted Harbor, U.S. Virgin Islands, before conducting a reconnaissance mission on another island 75 nautical miles away Aug. 27, 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)