A C-130H aircrew from the Georgia Air National Guard deployed with the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron stationed at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, performed a high-altitude airdrop mission on Aug. 26 to deliver eight bundles of food, water, clothes, and blankets to a remote village in the northern part of the country. “These airdrop missions are challenging, and we enjoy that challenge,” said Lt. Col. Tommy Atkinson, the C-130 aircraft commander. He added, “What may be lost on some people is how complicated these missions really are, because we’ve been doing them flawlessly for so long.” The 774th EAS has been dropping an average of five to eight tons of supplies and equipment per mission. Such airdrops are vital to support coalition activities in otherwise difficult-to-access remote areas of the country. (Bagram report by TSgt. John Jung)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.