Nine C-17 airlifters from JB Charleston, S.C., air-dropped pallets and paratroopers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in a massive joint-force deployment drill. “The exercise provided more than 500 operational and maintenance training objectives,” said Capt. Rob Cross of Charleston’s 437th Maintenance Squadron in an April 2 release. “The exercise let us practice Total Force integration on a whole new level,” he added. The mass airdrop on March 27, dubbed “Raging Moose,” gave Charleston’s 437th Airlift Wing and Air Force Reserve Command’s associated 315th AW practice with close-formation flight and aerial refueling en-route to an “undisclosed” dropzone.
B-52 Stratofortresses popped up from the Middle East to North Africa to the Arctic in recent days, as the U.S. Air Force flexed the reach of its bomber fleet.