An Air Force C-17 aircrew recently transported a well-drilling rig from the Republic of Djibouti to Gode, Ethiopia, in Africa under the auspices of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. (CJTF-Horn is a little-publicized element of Operation Enduring Freedom.) A US Army unit is using the rig to dig four drinking-water wells for the Ethiopians. All of this feeds into the US effort to deal with terrorist inroads in the Saharan and Sahel regions of Africa, which are heavily Islamic and poor.
The Air Force will test out a “next Airmen up” list for the upcoming chief master sergeant promotion cycle, to identify qualified candidates should any of those selected to move up in rank decline to do so.