The Flying Razorbacks of the Arkansas Air National Guard have sat in many different pilot seats over seven decades. Throughout that history, our airmen have flown everything from modified bombers in the 1950s to fighter aircraft like the F-4, F-16 and A-10.

But their current mission is the most unique yet and provides a glimpse into what 21st century military service looks like for some servicemembers.

The 188th Wing recently celebrated 10 years of its newest mission conducting intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and precision strike operations with the MQ-9A Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), commonly known as “Reapers.” It is a notable anniversary when you look at the unit’s incredible transition from its fighting wing assignment – the last of which provided close-air support via the A-10 fighter, with its airframe first introduced in 1977 – to a state-of-the-art, high-security operation with multiple primary mission sets, including global operations performed 24/7 by pilots and intelligence officers.

The fact that these airmen now go home to their families every night instead of serving overseas for weeks and months at a time is perhaps the most prominent difference between them and previous generations of Flying Razorbacks personnel. I was struck by that contrast as well as several other observations while reflecting on this milestone.

Another was the tremendous dedication that brought this mission here to the River Valley. I am so proud of the community and servicemembers who showed once again that Fort Smith is an incredible place with a deep commitment to our armed forces.

I also continue to be impressed by the accomplishments of these guardsmen in such a short period of time. The mission did not exist at Ebbing Air National Guard Base until 2016, yet the Flying Razorbacks have already completed 3,123 sorties, logged almost 60,000 flight hours and supported nine personnel recovery events.

At the anniversary celebration, commanders shared their pride at the unit’s incredible reputation within the U.S. Air Force and cited many examples when commanders on the ground in other parts of the world have requested the Flying Razorbacks for a mission. The Wing’s professionalism and success rate is legendary and even earned its 184th Attack Squadron honors as the best RPA unit in the nation last year.

But beyond this unit’s incredible work, I hope Arkansans will also appreciate the unique challenge of this mission and what it means for modern military service.

In the past, we would send our citizen-airmen off on a deployment and pray they came home safe to us. They would be focused and on-mission while on active duty and then work on the challenge of returning home to normal routines when their tour ended.

That is not always the case now. The airmen of the 188th are employed-in-place or, essentially, deployed-in-place –– every day of the week. They carry out critical missions we hear about on the news and then go home for supper or attend a t-ball game. They cannot even tell their spouse what they did at work that day.

This daily deployment is a new challenge for our men and women in uniform and something I will keep in mind every time I visit with them.

Stories and anniversaries like that of the Flying Razorbacks remind us that freedom is never free. I hope all Arkansans will continue to support our men and women in uniform every day with the knowledge that they are defending our nation both abroad and in our own backyard.