The Air Mobility Warfare Center’s Air Mobility Battlelab at Ft. Dix, N.J., is now using the Halverson Air Stairs Kit, or HASK, instead of the loader’s traditional walk deck to easily load passengers and cargo. This passenger-stairs attachment kit deploys with first responders to support global contingencies where they will be handling both cargo and people. In stairs mode, the steps stay level regardless of height adjustment. In cargo mode, the steps close and are used as a walk deck. Retired Gen. Ronald Fogleman, former Air Force Chief of Staff, came up with the idea as a solution to the lack of passenger stairs at forward bases.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.