For C-17 Backers, a Cold Giambastiani Shower: 
Those who want to expand USAF’s C-17 fleet have been giddy recently, given newfound support in the Senate (DR 11/11/05) and Defense Science Board (DR 11/15/05). They are more sober now, deflated by remarks from the JCS Vice Chairman, Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, Jr. He didn’t see a need to go beyond the 180 C-17s already approved. He said “we have a very capable and adequate airlift fleet,” and will continue to have one in the future “if we maintain … the programs that we currently have funded.” Giambastiani based his view on the classified Mobility Capabilities Study.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.