Air Force Reserve Command plans on Nov. 17 to deactivate the 84th Aerial Port Squadron, which it activated in January 2004 to support war on terror operations worldwide. Assigned to the 315th Airlift Wing at Charleston AFB, S.C., the 130-member-strong 84th APS operated out of Greenville, S.C., where its duties included helping to train and assist Army, Navy, and Marine Corps reserve units. Capt. Bryan Lewis reports that, on one four-month deployment to Kuwait, the 84th APS launched 8,915 missions and processed nearly 290,000 passengers.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.