On M
ay 24, for the first time, a US military aircraft touched down at Kampong Chhnang Province airfield in Cambodia, Pacific Air Forces said in a May 27 release. The aircraft, a C-130 from the Alaska Air National Guard’s 144th Airlift Squadron at Anchorage’s Kulis ANGB, flew 3,000 pounds of medical supplies in to the countryside airfield, which was built in 1975 under Pol Pot’s regime. The mission was for Operation Pacific Angel, a humanitarian-assistance effort run together with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Royal Thai Air Force.
The U.S. military is sending more fighter jets to the Middle East to step up its war with Iran, adding to what is already the largest buildup of airpower in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For now, the operation shows little sign of coming to a quick…