It was the 14th Airlift Squadron of Charleston AFB, S.C., that was flying Vice President Dick Cheney on his Southwest Asia tour last month when the Vice President became the object of a suicide bomber attack at Bagram AB, Afghanistan. Cheney stayed there overnight due to poor weather. USAF journalist Shauna Heathman reports that within an hour of the red alert on the morning of Feb. 27, the Charleston crew had Cheney back on the C-17 on his way to Kabul for a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. It was the first time the 14th AS had flown such a high-ranking VIP.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
