McGuire AFB, N.J., one of USAF’s new hubs for shipments to Southwest Asia (McGuire and Dover AFB, Del., have supplanted Charleston AFB, S.C. in that role) sent off its first “Red Ball Express” flight on New Year’s Eve. The Air Force inaugurated an earlier “Red Ball Express,” utilizing C-141s flying out of Travis AFB, Calif., to support operations in Southeast Asia. Late last year, USAF announced it would shift its SWA cargo flights from Charleston to the northeast bases to save time and money. McGuire now flies the new C-17 airlifter and the KC-10 tanker/cargo aircraft.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…