Airmen from the 18th Wing in-process after returning from a deployment to U.S. Central Command Oct. 6, 2020, at Kadena Air Base, Japan. More than 300 Airmen assigned to the 18th Operations and Maintenance Groups as well as pilots and aircraft assigned to the 44th Fighter Squadron deployed to the CENTCOM theater to defend U.S. and partner nation interests. During their deployment, Airmen conducted more than 1,000 sorties and 5,300 combat hours, which drove 13 phase inspections in six months. They’ll share the skills they learned in combat with Team Kadena, joint partners and allies to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Sutton)