: More than 20 airmen took part in tests at Scott AFB, Ill., June 8-9 to assess the ability of medical personnel to evacuate ambulatory and littered patients quickly and safely from the C-27J. These activities were part of the aircraft’s ongoing production qualification testing. “We gathered data so aeromedical evacuation training regulations and operating instructions for the aircraft can be written,” said MSgt. Michael Baker, an Air Mobility Command test director assigned to JB McGuire, N.J. These tests were a precursor to the small airlifter’s multi-service operational test and evaluation planned for later this summer. The Air Force has taken over responsibility for what was previously the Army-led Joint Cargo Aircraft program, and is acquiring a fleet of 38 C-27Js to deliver supplies and personnel directly to austere forward operating locations. The service expects to start operating the C-27Js in Southwest Asia around the end of the year. (Scott report by Bekah Clark.)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's recent direction that the military services return to a more old-school approach to basic training—with instructors "tossing bunks" and "putting their hands on recruits”—will likely require the Air Force to rewrite policies for military training instructors it has modified over time to cut down on such…
