Airmen of Air Force Reserve Command’s 910th Airlift Wing in Ohio who are members of DOD’s sole fixed-wing unit dedicated to aerial spraying on Wednesday adapted their unique capability to the largest oil spill response exercise—Safe Seas 2006—in coastal waters. This event had the airmen flying their specially equipped C-130s near San Francisco. Last year, they covered some three million acres along the Gulf Coast, spraying for mosquitoes and filth flies following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.