An Air Force Reserve Command C-5 from the 433rd Airlift Wing, Kelly Field, Tex., airlifted 26,000 pounds of meals, ready to eat (MREs) to Homestead ARB, Fla., late last week to aid Hurricane Wilma relief efforts. At NAS JRB Fort Worth, Tex., airmen, sailors, and DOD civilians loaded a C-17 with pallets of food and water. The hurricane struck the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 3, then downshifted somewhat as it raced across the state, sending off tornadoes in its wake. Some six million people were left without power.
F-35As from the Vermont Air National Guard have deployed to Puerto Rico in recent days, continuing a major buildup of U.S. Air Force assets in Latin America aimed at combating drug trafficking and pressuring the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
