Twelve airmen this week deployed to Ecuador to help the country recover from a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit April 16. An eight-man airfield assessment team deployed to Manta on April 22 to help assess damage to an airfield, according to a US Southern Command release. A four-man team with a mobile Air Traffic Control Tower arrived at the city’s Eloy Alfaro Airport on April 26 to help local controllers with air traffic. The group will return to their home station this week, according to SOUTHCOM. The large earthquake, which was centered about 17 miles from the town of Muisne, killed at least 655 people in Ecuador and injured another 4,605. The 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota AB, Japan, sent several C-130Hs and crews to the Kyushu region of Japan on April 18 following a series of earthquakes there. The C-130Hs along with MV-22 Ospreys and a UC-35 helped ferry Japanese Self Defense Force equipment and personnel.
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
