Officials at Travis AFB, Calif., have christened seven of the base’s C-17s with the names of the seven cities that surround the installation in Solano County, southwest of Sacramento in the state’s northern half. Mayors of all seven cities—Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun City, Vacaville, and Vallejo—received replica C-17 tails, bearing their city’s inscription during the March 17 unveiling ceremony. Like the base’s namesake C-17, “Spirit of Travis,” one city name will be prominently emblazoned on each C-17’s forward fuselage and vertical stabilizer. “I believe that there is no better way to honor our strong community partnerships than by putting their names on the aircraft that define our mission,” said Col. John Flournoy, commander of Air Force Reserve Command’s 349th Air Mobility Wing, reported Vacaville’s The Reporter. The Reserve unit operates Travis’ C-17s together with the active duty 60th AMW.
Earlier this week, the People’s Republic of China confirmed it is halting its nuclear arms control talks with the U.S., in retaliation for the U.S. continuing to sell arms to Taiwan. The move reinforces a “pattern of behavior” from Beijing, experts say.