Airmen 
at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, now have a new, 90,000-square-foot concrete cargo-handling ramp to speed the movement of material at USAF’s busiest air hub. “We are the busiest aerial port squadron in the world,” said Lt. Col. Kirk Peterson, commander of Bagram’s 455th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron. The new yard will provide a safer environment for airmen to maneuver cargo compared to the rock and dirt yard it has replaced. “This new cargo yard will more than double our current capacity and it represents our nation’s commitment to Operation Enduring Freedom.” Peterson added. The $8.8 million project took only about three months to complete. Brig. Gen. Jack Briggs, head of the base’s 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, presided over the Aug. 12 opening ceremony for the ramp. (Bagram report by 2nd Lt. Jennifer Guerrero)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…