The coalition airlift community at Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, banded together recently when the “gateway” base had an “unusually large influx of troops,” reports Air Force journalist SSgt. Lara Gale. A Spanish Air Force detachment that normally transports Spanish personnel supporting the NATO mission in Afghanistan offered to ferry a group of USAF officers from Manas to Kabul, Afghanistan. To the USAF airmen, of course, it was just another C-130 ride.
Air Force senior statesmen explained the reasons they jointly sent a letter to Congress urging restoration of the E-7 Wedgetail and more F-35s to the fiscal 2026 defense budget.