Airmen of the 455th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, have begun using the Air Force’s new Patient Loading System. Air Mobility Command developed the PLS to facilitate use of aircraft without loading ramps, such as the KC-135 and civilian 767, for medevac operations. In Hawaii, Pacific Air Forces will be testing USAF’s new Humanitarian Relief Operations Operational Capability Package (HUMRO OCP), starting in January 2008. The service has designed the standalone, self-sufficient, off-the-shelf medical package to aid contingency disaster response efforts around the world.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
