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20 airmen are working with the Iraqi Army at remote Camp Habbaniyah. Where “everything is a challenge [and] nothing comes easy,” says TSgt. James Lovelace, senior enlisted advisor for the camp’s USAF unit. The Red Tail Flyer reports that the airmen’s job is to teach Iraqi soldiers how to operate a military organization, ranging from such basics as providing food, water, electricity, fuel, and waste management. Lt. Col. Sharyn McWhorter, officer in charge of USAF’s regional support unit Habbinayah, says there wasn’t even a “scheme for picking up trash.” Some 50 years ago, the camp was a functional base; now living quarters may not have running water or electricity and supplies are scarce. The airmen subsist on local food and care packages from home.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.