Within just 55 hours, the Katrina evacuation hub at Lackland AFB, Tex., processed 9,788 evacuees, flown in aboard 89 aircraft. Lackland’s Wilford Hall Medical Center not only helped evaluate the evacuees, but also sent seven critical-care air transport teams to rotate in and out of the Gulf Region and a 60-person contingency aeromedical staging facility team to New Orleans, where it expects to stay for at least 30 days. AFRC’s 433rd Airlift Wing, at Lackland, has flown its C-5 airlifters on 20 medevac missions. More than 250 basic training graduates at Lackland turned down their well-earned “town pass” to help set up shelters.
Now Is the Time to Boost CCA Investment
June 3, 2026
The Air Force wants about $1 billion to move Collaborative Combat Aircraft into production in fiscal 2027 and accelerate the introduction of this game-changing technology. Congress should support that objective.