The Air Force hosts the Expeditionary Theater Distribution Center in Southwest Asia, maintaining and dispensing protective gear for about 75 percent of the airmen that deploy to the region, according to a May 2 release from the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. The Air Force established the center, which is the baby of the 379th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, a 70-person unit that handles the largest of USAF’s three distro centers in Southwest Asia, in 2005 to absorb, refit, and dispense protective gear in-theater to save money on excess baggage fees and reduce equipment wear and tear when every airman carried his own gear into and out of the theater. (379th AEW report by SrA. Carolyn Viss)
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…