N
ot all the American evacuees fleeing Lebanon have been flown to Cyprus, some took buses to Incirlik AB, Turkey, where the airmen quickly set up their new deployment processing center to handle the more than 1,600 Americans seeking a way to get back to the US. The Incirlik airmen arranged a travel processing line to include State Department and Turkish officials, as well as legal and chaplain services. Incirlik’s 39th Security Forces Squadron joined forces with State Department Security Service to ensure accountability for all the Americans, and then there were the airmen who created some playtime areas for the children.
Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon rebrand is months away and not yet assured.