Air Force special operations crews are being recognized for a daring June 22 rescue of two critically burned fishermen off the coast of Bermuda. Airmen with the 720th Special Tactics Group at Hurlburt Field, Fla., responded to a request from the US Coast Guard to assist with the rescue of a 19-member crew of a Panamanian fishing vessel that caught fire, according to an Air Force release. An Air Force HC-130J Combat King II carrying a team of pararescuemen, a combat rescue officer, a surgeon, and a critical care nurse departed Moody AFB, Ga., en route to the scene, with the help of a KC-135 from the Tennessee Air National Guard’s 134th Airlift Wing. The team evacuated the patients, who were Taiwanese nationals, to Senara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Va., for care.
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.