The 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron, Al Udeid AB, Qatar, handles some 20 percent of all passengers and cargo transported by Air Mobility Command forces. By comparison, Rhein Main AB, Germany, handles about 13 percent. For the month of September alone, 8th EAMS will have airlifted an estimated 32,000 passengers and 20,000 tons of cargo. “We are known as the Ramstein of the AOR,” said Lt. Col. Doug Engelke, the unit’s commander.
The Air Force plans to add external weapons pylons on the B-1B bomber, both to increase the number of aircraft that can test hypersonic missiles and expand the Lancer’s loadout as USAF transitions to the B-21 bomber.