S
ome 60 airmen and several C-17 airlifters from Charleston AFB, S.C., recently deployed to take part in Bright Star 07, flying US and Egyptian soldiers from Kentucky to Egypt. First they provided airdrop opportunities in Kentucky, and then airlifted the troops to Egypt to complete the US Central Command-sponsored exercise. In Egypt, the C-17 force again provided airdrop training for the paratroopers. A fuel leak prevented one of the original C-17s from flying out of Kentucky, but Shauna Heathman reports that quick work by Charleston generated another aircraft and crew, putting the new airlifter with its load of soldiers only three hours behind the other two C-17s.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
