Sailors’ afternoon

Training afternoon for USNavy assets based on the USS George H.W. Bush.

• a USN Grumman E-2D has just taken off from the carrier and is preparing to conduct an airspace surveillance mission around the Bush’s Combat Strike group
• a pair of Grumman C-2As (reg. 162155 & 162167) also left the aircraft carrier for NAS Sigonella
• a USAF Boeing KC-135R (reg. 58-0125) from RAF Mildenhall arrived in the area to refuel some USN F/A-18Es that also took off from Bush.

Interestingly, the KC-135R arrived in the area by taking an unusually long route that avoided Italian airspace (it had also done the same yesterday)