The US Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) enterprise is vital to the national security of the United States and its allies, providing an unrivaled capability; focused, integrated ISR is inseparable from operations and enables mission execution.

For the 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, efforts to increase those capabilities are in full swing after completing an extended range modification to nearly half of their fleet of MQ-9 Reapers and flying the first ever ER sortie in Afghanistan, December 1, 2015.

The Reaper, a remotely piloted aircraft primarily designed for ISR collection, can also perform close air support, combat search and rescue, precision strike and other critical functions, making it an indispensable tool.

Supporting one of the largest Reaper squadrons in the Air Force, maintainers at the 62nd ERS had a large task of completing the ER modification while the squadron continued to provide world-class close air support and ISR in the Afghanistan area of responsibility.

“All of our ER aircraft out here were boxed up, shipped out [from the US], and between us and our General Atomics partners, we performed all the mods here in the AOR,” said Captain Garrik, 62nd ERS Maintenance Operations Officer. “One of the things that at our level we are really proud of here is that we did it on top of completing our regular flying schedule.”