The 18th Wing at Kadena AB, Japan, on the island of Okinawa has sent one of its KC-135s and crews to Hickam AFB, Hawaii, where they are training to refuel the new C-17 airlifter. TSgt. Chris Vadnais reports that the Kadena tanker aircrews rarely get to work with cargo aircraft and instead refuel mainly fighters. The difference? According to Capt. Mike Rossi, a Kadena pilot, the greater weight turbulence from the C-17 “pushes us around a little bit more from the back, so we have to take into account for that and just be prepared for any type of breakaway-type situations.”
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
