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.
Senior U.S. lawmakers expressed frustration that they are being cut out of some of the Trump administration’s most central decisions on military policy and spending. Their concerns, which are shared on both sides of the aisle, concern the budget reconciliation process as well as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans to slash…