The Air Mobility Warfare Center’s Air Mobility Battlelab at Ft. Dix, N.J., is now using the Halverson Air Stairs Kit, or HASK, instead of the loader’s traditional walk deck to easily load passengers and cargo. This passenger-stairs attachment kit deploys with first responders to support global contingencies where they will be handling both cargo and people. In stairs mode, the steps stay level regardless of height adjustment. In cargo mode, the steps close and are used as a walk deck. Retired Gen. Ronald Fogleman, former Air Force Chief of Staff, came up with the idea as a solution to the lack of passenger stairs at forward bases.
Gas is king in the vast expanse of the Pacific. And as the Pentagon has sought to build up its capability to deter China, the Department of Defense has undergone a major rethink about how to get fuel to the region. At the heart of the effort is the U.S. Transportation…