Some 37 airmen of the Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve Command, and active-duty Air Force deployed to Iraq with the 557th Expeditionary RED HORSE are helping construct four tactical operations centers for US Army elements headquartered at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, south of Baghdad. SSgt. Julie Weckerlein reports that the Army asked for RED HORSE help specifically because they are self-sufficient, providing a variety of specialties from heavy construction to plumbing and electrical. The location has complicated the work on two fronts: slow delivery of construction materials and constant threat of attack in an area known as the “Triangle of Death.”
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…