Bagram 
Airfield, Afghanistan, has a new 200,000 gallon fuel bladder in place that doubles the fuel-storage capacity at the busy coalition air hub. “There are no fixed facilities here at Bagram. The fuel bladders allow us to store large amounts of fuel close to the fight,” said SMSgt. Arnaldo Rodriguez-Matos, fuels superintendent for Bagram’s 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron. Nearly 30 airmen, led by the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing’s Petroleum, Oils and Lubricants (POL) flight, on Tuesday set up the 4,300-pound bladder in the plastic-lined dike where it now resides. “Most of my POL counterparts haven’t ever done this before, so it was a good training opportunity,” said Rodriguez-Matos. (Bagram report by TSgt. Drew Nystrom)
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.