Several hundred airmen at opposite ends of the country deploy to Southwest Asia for USAF’s Air and Space Expeditionary Force (AEF) 7 and 8. Base officials say that about 700 airmen—some on their second or third time in three years—will deploy from Eglin AFB, Fla. Another smaller group of airmen headed out from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. The airmen include civil engineers, logisticians, and communications specialists, making up what USAF calls expeditionary combat support forces.
An Air Force C-17 transport jet recently tested a new technology that could help aviators stay on course even if the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) that much of modern-day aviation relies on is compromised.