The Defense Department on Tuesday identified two airmen killed in an Oct. 11 crash of a British Puma Mk2 helicopter in Kabul, Afghanistan. They are: Maj. Phyllis J. Pelky, 45, of Rio Rancho, N.M. and MSgt. Gregory T. Kuhse, 38, of Kalamazoo, Mich. Pelkey was assigned to the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Kuhse was assigned to the 3rd Manpower Requirements Squadron at Scott AFB, Ill. The two were killed, along with two Royal Air Force officers and a French contractor, when their helicopter was landing at the headquarters of NATO’s training and support mission, according to the BBC. The cause of ?the crash is under investigation. It was the second fatal crash in October in Afghanistan for the Air Force, after six airmen were killed when their C-130 crashed at Jalalabad Airfield.
Three B-1B Lancers from the 7th Bomb Wing flew over the Indo-Pacific alongside F-16s from the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force as part of a joint large force exercise. The mission began and ended in the continental U.S. The bombers flew 31 hours and landed Jan. 11.