Members 
of the 305th Air Mobility Wing and Air Force Reserve Command’s 514th AMW at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., completed their first “elephant walk” surge exercise in nearly five years, launching 12 KC-10 tankers, one right after the other, over a 30-minute span. The training drill was meant to showcase the wings’ ability to generate aerial refueling sorties in large numbers to support a global strike mission. “With our high operations tempo and the recent events in Libya, we have been stretched thin, leaving little time to train,” said Lt. Col. Jimmy Shaw, 305th Operations Group deputy commander, in discussing the Dec. 20 drill. He added, “Practicing complex missions, such as large-formation refueling, makes us just that much better and more capable in situations where we may be called upon.” (McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst report by A1C Dennis L. Sloan)
The U.S., South Korea, and Japan flew an unusual trilateral flight with two U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bombers escorted by two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s, and two ROK Air Force KF-16 fighters—both countries’ respective variants of the F-16—July 11. That same weekend, the top military officers of the three nations…