Airmen and C-17s from JB Charleston, S.C., delivered more than 130,000 pounds of humanitarian aid in early February to Nicaragua and Haiti. The 315th Airlift Wing flew a training mission as part of the Denton humanitarian aid program, carrying food and other goods on the Feb. 5 mission. “It’s really a twofold mission,” Lt. Col. Mark Pool, director of operations for the 300th Airlift Squadron in an Air Force Reserve Command release. “We get to deliver the Denton cargo, and we get a lot of really good training out of it.” The training part of the mission focus on getting young pilots and loadmasters time to fly into smaller countries with difficult approaches and in non-radar environments, Pool said. The cargo included more than 110,000 pounds of food, along with 9,000 pounds of school supplies, clothing, toys, medical equipment and other goods, the release states.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.