Pacific Air Forces new C-17 fleet at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, is now flying missions around the Pacific and over to the US Central Command area of responsibility in Southwest Asia. Recently a Hawaii-based C-17 supported Exercise Foal Eagle in South Korea, transporting US Army Strykers to the Korean peninsula. Meanwhile, another of the new airlifters made the first trip for the joint active-Air National Guard C-17 operation at Hickam from Hawaii to SWA, stopping over in Colorado and Germany on the way. Once in Iraq, the C-17 was to fly two missions, one to Mosul and one to Baghdad.
House lawmakers unveiled a new reconciliation package July 15 with $60 billion for defense, $290 billion less than the Pentagon has been seeking, a day after a Senate vote to advance the annual defense policy bill failed—developments that show the perilous state of the Pentagon’s ambitious plans for fiscal 2027.