A USAF C-17 begins airlifting relief supplies from Dover AFB, Del., to Tirana, Albania, for refugees from Kosovo at the start of Operation Sustain/Shining Hope, humanitarian counterpart to Allied Force. In the first month, allied transports, including USAF C-5s, C-17s, and C-130s, airlift more than 3,000 tons of food, medicine, tents, supplies, cots, blankets, sleeping bags, and other relief cargo.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.