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.
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.