The 166th Airlift Wing, the Delaware Air National Guard unit based at New Castle, reached 170,000 accident-free flying hours on 20 January 2011. The 166th AW has not had a Class A, B, or C flying mishap since 1963. During this period, the unit flew the C-97 Stratofreighter and C-130A Hercules, and currently operates the C-130H. The wing has flown nearly twenty continuous years of deployments to Southwest Asia. Over that time, Guardsmen recorded combat flying time in Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Northern Watch, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. The 166th AW reached 100,000 accident-free hours in 1990 and topped 150,000 safe flying hours in 2004.
