Late last month, according to a Dec. 11 release from McChord AFB, Wash., airmen deployed to support Operation Deep Freeze in the Antarctic airdropped 30 bundles of fuel and other supplies from a C-17 to a scientific camp at Antarctic Gamburtsev Mountain Province, one of the most remote locations on Earth. It only took the airmen three hours to deliver a load that would have taken days or weeks by other means, according to Capt. Joe O’Rourke, a 7th Airlift Squadron pilot supporting Deep Freeze. The C-17 Deep Freeze force has since made three more airdrops to the remote camp. (McChord report by SSgt. Eric Burks)
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, succeeding Navy Adm. John Aquilino at a change of command ceremony, urging action amid China's “increasing intrusive and expansionist claims,” on May 3