The Air Force has provided five more C-130 loads of supplies to cyclone-stricken Burma, according to Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. He told reporters at the Pentagon May 20 that 36 total flights have delivered more than 800,000 pounds of relief supplies. (The US military also have provided satellite imagery.) “We continue to plan more flights, but … it’s on a day-by-day basis,” he said. In China, an Air National Guard C-17 crew delivered a nine-member US Agency for International Development team to help Chinese search-and-rescue efforts following last week’s devastating earthquake. It was the third USAF C-17 flight to Chengdu. (American Forces Press Service reports by Jim Garamone on Burma and China aid.)
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.