During a stop at Manas Air Base, Rice spoke to airmen of the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing and French and Spanish troops, thanking them for the way they “work together as a coalition—the way it should be.” Rice noted that the US has “strong allies in this fight,” which she said “is not an American fight but rather a fight of free peoples.” Her remarks struck home with SSgt. Sarah Byron-Smith, a 376th medic, who said, “I felt as though she, even at her level of power, had the right sight picture and knew what we were here to do.”
Clearing jungle and laying asphalt in tropical heat may not sound like fun to most people, but it’s a way of life for Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Airmen, who have spent the past year or so restoring World War II-era airfields on the Pacific…