The latest such mission has two C-130s and 24 airmen from the 463rd Airlift Group at Little Rock AFB, Ark., spending 120 days in Southwest Asia. It takes them three days—with stopovers in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Italy—to reach the theater. Some of the Little Rock airmen have made 54 such trips to SWA. “We know it is dangerous, but each time we load up one C-130, that is one less convoy that will be put in harms’ way,” said loadmaster SSgt. Paul Rose.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.