Airmen at Kadena AB, Japan prepared ahead of time the 225,000 pounds of food, medicine, and cold weather items transported by two C-17s, one from Alaska and one from Hawaii, to Shanghai last week. The Kadena employed a new Smart Operations initiative called aerial port expediter, or APEX, for the short-notice mission, saving about “eight hours of downtime for the aircraft,” said TSgt. Korey Aschenbrenner, the APEX load director for the 733rd Air Mobility Squadron at Kadena. Under APEX, Aschenbrenner took the place of the loadmaster for the aircraft, enabling the ground crew to load the supplies while the aircrews took crew rest. Another facet of the APEX initiative trains aerial porters to power up airlifters. (Kadena report by TSgt. Rey Ramon)
The Air Force wants a new, affordable, air-launched standoff cruise missile ready to field in 2033. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center announced April 6 it will hold an industry day event to conduct market research on the Standoff Attack Weapon, or SoAW, on June 17 at Eglin Air…