Airmen from Ramstein AB, Germany, deployed to Niger to collect satellite imagery to aid map-making—called Eagle Vision missions—have spent some time with local inhabitants. They treated children to donated soccer balls and their parents to 1,000 pounds of rice. The airmen from the 24th Intelligence Squadron and 1st Combat Communications Squadron contributed the money to buy the rice when they heard the village of Karadje needed food. (Read more here.)
B-52 Stratofortress bombers marked a new first in Operation Epic Fury when some of the BUFFs flew over Iran carrying JDAM-guided gravity bombs, according to people familiar with the matter. The development signals a weakening of Iranian air defenses and a new use for the venerable bomber in the nearly…