Airmen from the 7th Weather Squadron’s Det. 7 at Grafenwohr, Germany, recently trained to forecast avalanches in Arabba, Italy, reports Stars and Stripes. Both Air Force and Army commanders in Europe felt the training might be useful for US forces headed to Afghanistan or other countries with mountainous terrain. Some 20 USAF combat weathermen and Army Special Forces trained with Italian instructors from the Italian Army’s Commando Truppe Alpine Metomont Service, a group that was formed after nine Italian alpine troops died in an avalanche.
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.