Those new Pacific Air Forces C-17s at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, evacuated residents off tiny Wake Island—located 2,300 miles west of Honolulu—in anticipation of Super Typhoon Ioke, which is expected to hit Wake today with 155 mph winds. All 188 residents left the island, arriving at Hickam and from there dispersing to area hotels. It was the first time Wake residents have evacuated the nine-foot-long island due to a storm, since its 20-30 buildings can withstand 130 mph gales, reports the Honolulu Advertiser.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…