Some six months of planning and developing a new quick-response force to aid humanitarian operation in the US European Command area of responsibility came to fruition last week, when 3rd Air Force successfully demonstrated its response to a simulated 8.7 Richter scale earthquake. Airmen at Ramstein AB, Germany, launched the first of six C-130s, loaded with emergency-response personnel and about 101 tons of supplies, within 16 hours. SMSgt. Hollis Dawson reports that the 100-person response team included airlift controllers, civil engineers, medics, and communications technicians. Lt. Gen. Rod Bishop, 3rd AF commander, said, “With this capability, we are poised to do a great deal of good for a lot of people during the critical early aftermath of a natural disaster.”
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.