A US Air Force C-17 aircrew about to embark on a routine five-stop mission in Southwest Asia got diverted on short notice to Cyprus to participate in the mass evacuation of US citizens from Lebanon. After a four-hour flight to Cyprus, the crew configured their airlifter with mesh seats to take on their maximum load of 102 passengers—they got 101. They were loaded within 20 minutes, but the C-17 crew had to wait for another couple of hours to get a slot into Ramstein AB, Germany. It’s all in a day’s work.
President Donald Trump on July 4 signed into law $150 billion in defense funds as part of the tax-and-spending package known as the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” after congressional Republicans approved the legislation in narrow, drawn-out votes earlier this week.
