The commander of the Iraqi Air Force, Staff Lt. Gen. Anwer Hamad Amen (second from left) formally accepted his country’s first C-130J Super Hercules in ceremonies at the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Georgia, on 12 December 2012. This Super Hercules (Iraqi tail number YI-304) is one of three C-130Js that will be delivered in-country at one time. The remaining three Iraqi C-130Js will be delivered in 2013. Iraqi aircrews and maintainers have been training with the 143rd Airlift Wing, the US Air National Guard unit at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, for the past several months. The Iraqi Air Force will use the C-130Js for intra-theater support for its troops and to provide humanitarian relief operations in various locations in the Middle East.
