The Buzzards deployed a package of six F-16s and nearly 100 people to the north-African country as part of a larger training exercise dubbed Major Manar.

According to Lt. Col. Dave Nichols, 510th FS operations officer, the overall purpose of the unit's deployment was to increase mutual understanding and inter-operability with the host nation.

"The training benefit for the 31st Fighter Wing was outstanding," he said. "We incorporated people and resources from several units into one Buzzard team, deployed to Tunisia and operated flawlessly for the entire exercise.

"The knowledge that we can pack up six aircraft and all that goes with them and employ successfully worldwide -- we're proud to say we did this without a hitch."

Despite deploying to an austere environment and starting from scratch, the Buzzards flew 20 percent more sorties than scheduled, including training scenarios of air-to-air, surface attack and mixed force attack and fighter operations with Tunisian air force F-5 fighters.

Nichols said that by training with the Tunisians, both air forces will be better prepared to operate together in the event of real-world deployments to the southern Mediterranean region.

"These maintainers did extremely well," said Master Sgt. Ronald Lee, 510th FS production superintendent. "Anytime you can fly at 120 percent from a bare-bones base, you sure can't complain."

In nearly everything from food and lodging to transportation, Nichols and Lee said they were pleasantly surprised by the support they received from their Tunisian hosts.

"Everyone was very willing to work with us," Lee said. "No matter what it was for -- when we asked for it, we got it with a smile."