There is a unit at Ali Base, Iraq, the 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron Ammo Flight, that has six airmen who handle all the countermeasure requirements for C-130s of both the US and Iraqi Air Forces. They maintain a munitions stockpile of 661 items, valued at $1.8 million, and each type of ammo has a different service life—inspection and reclassification is a neverending cycle, reports the Ali Times. And, then there’s the everyday task of replenishing the chaff and flares used by the airlifters.
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, succeeding Navy Adm. John Aquilino at a change of command ceremony, urging action amid China's “increasing intrusive and expansionist claims,” on May 3