Airmen in Air Force Reserve Command’s 67th Aerial Port Squadron at Hill AFB, Utah, decided to abandon traditional Reserve deployment by ones and twos and instead worked for more than a year to coordinate sending the entire unit to Afghanistan, reports SSgt. Craig Seals. And, they are all volunteers. At Bagram Air Base, the unit has gone beyond their basic task of managing loading and unloading of aircraft, it “built a secure fence around the [cargo] yard, streamlined our cargo processes, and brought things back in line with [Air Mobility Command] guidelines,” said flight chief SMSgt. Dale Johnson, adding, “These guys have got amazing resolve.”
The Pentagon awarded a contract worth over $2 billion for the next batch of F-35 engines to Pratt & Whitney on June 5. The deal for Lot 17 F135 engines, totaling $2.02 billion, is expected to be completed by December 2025.