The aerial results of a Coast Guard flyover Sept. 2 of Wake Island were encouraging, showing much less damage from Typhoon Ioke than Air Force officials initially feared. USAF specialists from the 36th Contingency Response Group at Andersen AFB, Guam, currently en route to Wake aboard a Navy ship will conduct a more thorough on-site investigation of airfield operations and facilities. The airmen are due to arrive at Wake Sept. 8. USAF dispatched two C-17s from Hickam AFB, Hawaii, to evacuate the 188 island residents prior to Ioke’s strike Aug. 31.
With the Air Force in the midst of its biggest testing boom in decades, the Maintenance Operational Test (MxOT) Division at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., is making sure those tests include an often-overlooked perspective: that of maintainers.