Among the myriad tasks accomplished by airmen in support of the Haiti relief mission since it began on Jan. 13 are five airdrops of supplies directly to the rescue and recovery forces on the ground there. The most recent airdrop missions occurred on Jan. 23 with two C-130 transports flying in tandem and also one C-17, an Air Mobility Command spokeswoman told the Daily Report Monday. They built upon the first two airdrops which occurred on Jan. 18 and Jan. 21, both with C-17s operating out of Charleston AFB, S.C. The spokeswoman said more airdrops are an option “still on the table,” if needed. The airdrops are a means of relieving the burden on the Port au Prince airport, which has been the principal access route in Haiti since the devastating Earthquake on Jan. 12. (Includes Davis-Monthan report by TSgt. Eric Petosky)
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.