US airmen and soldiers are in Pakistan, beginning Operation Promise Keeping, the follow-up to last year’s earthquake disaster response effort. USAF C-130s have started delivering building supplies, part of some $206 million in US aid pledged over the next four years. US Army helicopters are slated to ferry the materials to the remote northern parts of Pakistan hit by the earthquake.
A half-dozen pilots from one of the Air Force’s premier F-16 units, the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., have been awarded one of the service’s highest decorations for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.