An Air Force Reserve Command C-5 from the 433rd Airlift Wing, Kelly Field, Tex., airlifted 26,000 pounds of meals, ready to eat (MREs) to Homestead ARB, Fla., late last week to aid Hurricane Wilma relief efforts. At NAS JRB Fort Worth, Tex., airmen, sailors, and DOD civilians loaded a C-17 with pallets of food and water. The hurricane struck the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 3, then downshifted somewhat as it raced across the state, sending off tornadoes in its wake. Some six million people were left without power.
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.