Maj. Julie Petrina, an ANG C-130J pilot, noted Monday at the AFA conference that the Maryland Guard had to educate mission planners in the theater about the C-130J’s capabilities. Compared to older E and H model Hercules, the C-130Js fly faster, can offload quicker, and the stretched versions (making up about half the force in-theater) can carry larger loads. The mission planners in Southwest Asia didn’t initially understand the J model capabilities, however, and would schedule them to fly slower missions with smaller-than-ideal loads. “They don’t understand our capability,” Petrina said. The education process is still ongoing.
NASA Boss: Race to Moon Has National Security Stakes
Sept. 15, 2026
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
