Members of USAF’s 818th Contingency Response Group/24th Air Expeditionary Group are processing hundreds of thousands of pounds of relief supplies coming into Pakistan every day. The groups’ members, which have been drawn primarily from Air Mobility Command’s 621st Contingency Response Wing and 305th Air Mobility Wing, both at McGuire AFB, N.J., comprise aerial porters, ramp controllers, aircraft maintainers, ground equipment mechanics, and special tactics and medical personnel. The groups also have finance and contracting airmen, working to ensure the team has the goods and services it needs to keep working.
The Air Force overall reduced its size by 120 aircraft in fiscal year 2021, but kept about the same number of fighter, bomber and attack aircraft, according to data supplied by the service. The F-35 fleet saw the biggest increase while the B-1B bomber fleet saw the largest decline.