Air Mobility Command’s 615th Contingency Response Group at Travis AFB, Calif., have descended upon the former Castle Air Force Base, near Merced, Calif., for a weeklong exercise, during which the airmen are opening a “seized” airfield. Some 250 airmen and Army Reservists are running Operation Hydra at Castle, Ft. Hunter Liggit, and Paso Robles Airport through June 8. Castle closed in 1995, victim of an early BRAC round.
F-35As from the Vermont Air National Guard have deployed to Puerto Rico in recent days, continuing a major buildup of U.S. Air Force assets in Latin America aimed at combating drug trafficking and pressuring the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

