Col. David Hicks and French Air Force Maj. Yann Malard step to their assigned A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft, Nov. 11, at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan. Hicks, from Paris, Tenn., is the 451st Expeditionary Operations Group commander, and Major Malard, from Nancy, France, is an assistant duty officer with the 75th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron. Malard is deployed with the American unit as part of the three-year foreign exchange pilot program.