A C-5 transport from Air Force Reserve Command’s 445th Airlift Wing earlier this month completed the wing’s first mission into Bagram AB, Afghanistan, delivering four new armored ground vehicles directly to troops on the front lines. The Galaxy left its home of Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, May 6 and returned home May 14. “The flight into Bagram went pretty smoothly,” said Lt. Col. James Couzins, a pilot from the wing. “We were on the ground less than three hours and never left the aircraft.” The US military opened a new runway at Bagram in 2006 that is long enough and reinforced to accommodate the C-5. The first C-5 landed on the improved runway in 2007. (AFRC News Service report)
The Air Force could conduct an operation like Israel's successful air campaign against Iran's nuclear sites, military leadership and air defenses, but readiness issues would make it risky, airpower experts said. Limited spare parts and training, low mission capable rates and few flying hours would put a drag on USAF's…