Air Force Reserve Command’s 555th RED HORSE combat engineers and their active duty cohorts, the 820th RED HORSE, both assigned to Nellis AFB, Nev., have started on a six-month deployment to Balad AB, Iraq. It’s the first time the 555th has deployed since the Vietnam War, reports journalist SrA. Travis Edwards. In Iraq, the RED HORSE airmen will assist the Army in getting ready to sustain a growing number of ground forces and with other Army construction tasks. Before leaving the US, the airmen are going through weapons and other combat skills training at Ft. McCoy, Wis.
Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—a trailblazer and one of the first 10 women to reach a four-star rank across the U.S. military—retired and passed control of U.S. Transportation Command to Air Force Gen. Randall Reed on Oct. 4, finishing an eventful tenure at TRANSCOM.