Airmen at Travis AFB, Calif., have the distinction of having trained the first three Japan Air Self Defense Force boom operators. The three Japanese airmen, who had served as loadmasters, received four months of training at Travis. First, they attended a six-month language course at Lackland AFB, Tex., followed by three weeks at Altus AFB, Okla., for the basic boom operator course. At Travis, they got to learn how to use the KC-10 refueling apparatus, offering them a similar type operational environment for Japan’s new KC-767 tankers.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber flew from Europe across the Middle East to the Persian Gulf on July 25 in a 32-hour flight, as conflicts continued to roil the area with U.S. troops coming under attack in Iraq and Syria on July 25 and July 26, U.S. officials told…