Timore LesteIndonesia Get Humanitarian Assist: Pacific Air Forces’ 13th Air Force has been overseeing two humanitarian assistance operations, one in Timore Leste and the other in Indonesia, as part of the Pacific Angel 2009 events that will conclude July 24. The Hickam AFB, Hawaii-based 13th AF plans another event in September in Vietnam. Some 37 airmen from medical and engineering specialties have been working in Timore Leste, where the medics have treated hundreds of residents and the engineers worked with local officials on civic assistance projects. (Report by TSgt. Cohen Young) The team in Timor Leste includes active duty airmen from various PACAF units and Air National Guardsmen from Georgia’s 165th Medical Group. (Young report) Another 40-plus team has been working in Indonesia. Providing the airlift for the Pacific Angel force to Indonesia was a C-17 crew from the Hawaii ANG’s 204th Airlift Squadron, while a C-130 crew from the Alaska ANG’s 176th Wing flew one team to Timor Leste. (Young report) According to a photo release, Royal New Zealand Army engineers have been working with airmen on some civic projects in Timor Leste.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.