A Taliban suicide bomber attempting to target Vice President Dick Cheney on a stopover at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, detonated his bomb on Feb. 27 outside Bagram’s outer-most entry gate, killing a US service member, a coalition member, a US government contractor. According to a Combined Joint Task Force-76 release, the bomber, who also died, wounded 27 people, including at least 20 Afghan nationals. The VP’s Secret Service detail moved Cheney, who told reporters he heard “a loud boom,” to a nearby bomb shelter.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach told lawmakers Apr. 30 that the service’s biggest airlifter, the C-5 Galaxy, has a 37 percent mission capable rate—one of several challenges facing the mobility fleet.