The Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group recently qualified as the Air Guard’s first unit capable of running a joint task force-port opening operation. The group received US Transportation Command’s official certification for this role after its performance in late March during an Eagle Flag contingency-response exercise at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. In less than a day, the Kentucky Air Guardsmen, teamed with an Army logistics crew, turned an austere airstrip into a functioning airlift hub, announced group officials April 13. “We had initial operating capability within 24 hours . . . and full operating capability within 42 hours—six full hours ahead of the exercise requirement,” said Col. Warren Hurst, 123rd CRG commander and JTF-PO boss. Transloading cargo from mobility aircraft onto Army trucks, “we moved 475 pallets of cargo . . . which was a new record for this exercise,” added Hurst. (McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst report by Maj. Dale Greer)
A Defense Department team is on the ground in Ukraine assessing what the country needs to protect itself from air, naval, electronic, and cyber warfare threats as Russian troops gather on multiple fronts, a senior Ukrainian defense official told Air Force Magazine, describing an emphasis on what assistance can be…