A C-17 crew from McChord AFB, Wash., conducted an 11-hour mission, flying from Christchurch, New Zealand, Jan. 4 to airdrop critical equipment to a British fishing ship that had been stranded in ice in the Antarctic since it suffered engine failure on Christmas Eve. Active and Air Force Reserve Command aircrews and support personnel from McChord are deployed to Christchurch for Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica. The British company Argos Georgia Limited, which had exhausted a search for commercial assistance, asked for US military help and supplied the spare parts and flotation aids. (13th Air Force report)
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.


