Some 500 Air Force Reserve Command airmen from five states spent the weekend at Pope AFB, N.C., training with AFRC’s 440th Airlift Wing, which relocated from Wisconsin to North Carolina under BRAC 2005. The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer reports that only about 120 of the 440th AW’s Wisconsin airmen made the switch to Pope. Ultimately, the unit expects to have 1,800 Reservists.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.