An Air Force C-17 broke an airdrop record on Sunday, when the airlifter delivered 32,400 pounds of humanitarian aid within 40 minutes to four locations in Afghanistan. The mission, conducted by a crew deployed from McChord AFB, Wash., marks the most cargo air dropped to four zones in the shortest amount of time from a single aircraft in the history of US airdrops, said Lt. Col. Charles Ciuzio, chief of the Air Mobility Division at the Combined Air Operations Center in Southwest Asia. The supplies included winter survival gear, tools, school supplies, food, and blankets.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
