Here’s what McCain said on the Senate floor: “I oppose the amendment. There has been a mobility capabilities study, which indicates that we have an acceptable number for this capability. We are looking at cuts in defense spending, and there are a lot of tremendous cost overruns. We are looking at rapidly escalating procurement costs. These additional aircraft are not needed. They are not needed today.” The study to which he refers, viewed by many insiders as being highly suspect, said we could get by with 180 C-17s. Maybe McCain knows something not yet vouchsafed to retired Gen. John Handy, who, as commander of Air Mobility Command, declared repeatedly the he needed a minimum of 222 C-17s in order to execute the air mobility mission.
Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—a trailblazer and one of the first 10 women to reach a four-star rank across the U.S. military—retired and passed control of U.S. Transportation Command to Air Force Gen. Randall Reed on Oct. 4, finishing an eventful tenure at TRANSCOM.