An 18-year long deployment of the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, and the second longest deployment in U.S. Air Force history, came to an end Oct. 1, 2019.
Just before sunrise, Col. Konata Crumbly, 116th Air Control Wing commander and Joint STARS aircraft commander, pulled back the flight controls and lifted the aircraft from the runway on the last Joint STARS sortie leaving Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, marking the end of an era.