McGuire AFB, N.J., one of USAF’s new hubs for shipments to Southwest Asia (McGuire and Dover AFB, Del., have supplanted Charleston AFB, S.C. in that role) sent off its first “Red Ball Express” flight on New Year’s Eve. The Air Force inaugurated an earlier “Red Ball Express,” utilizing C-141s flying out of Travis AFB, Calif., to support operations in Southeast Asia. Late last year, USAF announced it would shift its SWA cargo flights from Charleston to the northeast bases to save time and money. McGuire now flies the new C-17 airlifter and the KC-10 tanker/cargo aircraft.
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…