A C-17 crew from McChord AFB, Wash., conducted an 11-hour mission, flying from Christchurch, New Zealand, Jan. 4 to airdrop critical equipment to a British fishing ship that had been stranded in ice in the Antarctic since it suffered engine failure on Christmas Eve. Active and Air Force Reserve Command aircrews and support personnel from McChord are deployed to Christchurch for Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica. The British company Argos Georgia Limited, which had exhausted a search for commercial assistance, asked for US military help and supplied the spare parts and flotation aids. (13th Air Force report)
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…