A US Air Force C-17 from Hickam AFB, Hawaii and one from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, delivered about 226,000 pounds of humanitarian supplies to China on Feb. 8 to help aid people in 19 provinces hard hit by severe winter storms. The C-17 from the 535th Airlift Squadron at Hickam picked up the supplies at Kadena AB, Japan on the island of Okinawa and flew into Shanghai International Airport, turning the cargo over to the People’s Liberation Army.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.