Wednesday’s C-17 crash near Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, was the first Globemaster flight mishap leading to the loss of aircrew and destruction of the aircraft. The C-17 went down near Elmendorf during a training mission, killing all four airmen aboard (see above). As of mid-day Friday, their names had not been released. There have been other C-17 mishaps, such as a hard belly landing at Bagram Airfield in January 2009, but Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Tracy Bunko confirmed to the Daily Report that there have been none of Wednesday’s magnitude. With the loss of this C-17, the Air Force’s Globemaster fleet size initially fell from 199 to 198 airframes. However, USAF took delivery of its 200th C-17 early Friday (California time) during a ceremony at Boeing’s aircraft plant in Long Beach, Calif., bringing the inventory back to 199. The new C-17 is assigned to JB McGuire, N.J. Congress has authorized the Air Force to procure a total of 223 C-17s. So far, orders have been placed for 213 of them. The Air Force doesn’t want any more than 223.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.