Five members of the Kuwait Air Force embedded with the 17th Airlift Squadron at JB Charleston, S.C., in February, where they received training on C-17 operations and maintenance before delivering Kuwait’s first Globemaster III. The aircraft, which also transited through Charleston, departed for Kuwait on Feb. 15, according to a Feb. 21 release. “Pilots and loadmasters from the 17th Airlift Squadron had the unique opportunity to train side by side with our Kuwaiti partners over the last four weeks,” said Lt. Col. Paul Theriot, 17th AS commander. “They were fresh out of Altus, and we topped off that schoolhouse training with some additional seasoning here at Charleston consisting of local flights and simulators. They were fantastic to work with and fly with, and I think both sides came away feeling our international bonds were strengthened.”
Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, celebrated the beddown of its full complement of F-35s with a ceremony just weeks after the base received the last of its 54 fighters. The arrival of those F-35s in mid-April gave Eielson the Air Force’s second fully-equipped, combat-coded F-35 wing, comprising two fighter squadrons.…