The entry portal for airmen assigned to South Korea changes Thursday from Osan Air Base to Incheon International Airport at Seoul, said USAF officials. To get from the airport to the base, airmen and family members—except pets—likely will use local bus service, contracted by the Air Force. The change reflects budgetary cutbacks that led the Air Force to cancel its commercial-contract airline service, called Patriot Express. USAF expects to eliminate the last of the Express charters by 2008.
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.