A new-build C-17 transport arrived at JB Charleston, SC, last week, bringing the total number of C-17s assigned to the base’s 437th Airlift Wing to 58, reports Charleston’s The Post and Courier. Lt. Gen. Allen Peck, commander of Air University at Maxwell AFB, Ala., flew the aircraft in from Boeing’s C-17 assembly plant in Long Beach, Calif., on Dec. 9. Col. Brian Robinson, 437th AW vice commander, accompanied Peck.
The Pentagon plans to use U.S. Air Force C-17s and C-130s to deport 5,400 people currently detained by Customs and Border Protection, officials announced Jan. 22, the first act in President Donald Trump’s sweeping promise to crack down on undocumented immigrants and increase border security.