Airmen with the 7th Airlift Squadron who made a new airdrop record during their 140-day deployment to Southwest Asia are back at their home base of McChord AFB, Wash. This was the outfit that, in March, dropped some 32,000 pounds of supplies over 40 minutes to four different locations to aid civilians in central and eastern Afghanistan. Over the course of their deployment, they conducted more than 6,500 missions, flying 16,000 hours and moving more than 121,000 passengers and 91,000 tons of cargo.
The Air Force is requesting about $141 million for initial enlistment bonuses in its fiscal 2026 budget, while Space Force wants $13 million.
