SrA. Raymond Jones, a plans and programming projects manager with the 332nd Expeditionary Communications Squadron at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, on Oct, 3 established a wounded warrior program at the base to ease the transition of wounded servicemembers through the medical evacuation process there. Jones, who deployed from McChord AFB, Wash., decided to start the Balad Wounded Warrior Program based on his firsthand experiences with the medevac process after he dislocated his knee and had to be transferred to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for treatment. “It was a confusing time for me,” he explained. He said he told himself then that, if given the chance to redeploy, he would start the wounded warriors program in addition to executing his primary mission. (Balad report by SrA. Andria J. Allmond)
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.