The new C-17 aircrews operating out of Hickam AFB, Hawaii, used the request for assistance in moving Australian defense forces as an opportunity to help an ally and get some additional C-17 training. (And, the Aussies picked up pointers, too.) The Hickam airmen in two C-17s moved, over the course of eight days, more than 1.1 million pounds of cargo, transporting 333 passengers, 48 pallets, and 74 vehicles. While they were doing this, they practiced engines running onload/offload—a practice quite common in operational areas like Afghanistan and Iraq—and took care of some needed loadmaster training.
A Defense Department team on the ground in Ukraine has been assessing what the country needs to protect itself from air, naval, electronic, and cyber warfare threats as Russian troops have gathered on multiple fronts, a senior Ukrainian defense official told Air Force Magazine, describing an emphasis on what assistance…