Air Mobility Command has deployed a second entire C-17 squadron to a base in Southwest Asia to conduct airlift operations from within US Central Command’s area of operations. Some 140 airmen, comprising 14th Airlift Squadron at Charleston AFB, S.C., deployed to SWA to replace Charleston’s 17th Airlift Squadron, which was the first unit to undertake AMC’s new approach—stationing a C-17 unit within the theater for 120 days to improve efficiency. An unknown number of airmen of Air Force Reserve Command’s 315th Airlift Wing at Charleston also deployed with the 14th AS.
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.