US airmen with the 506th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron at Kirkuk AB, Iraq, have succeeded in getting Erbil Airport operating regularly schedule commercial flights to and from Vienna, Austria—the first of any scheduled passenger flights since 2003. Air Force journalist TSgt. Russ Wood reports that the 506th airmen worked with coalition officials to develop new procedures for the commercial flights, building on those in place for chartered services.
Airmen, Guardians, and other service members that wear beards for religious reasons will be deemed nondeployable as part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sweeping crackdown on shaving waivers—a move that would essentially end their careers and one that several former Air Force officials say may go too far in trying…
