The Army Reserve has deployed its 824th Riggers unit from Ft. Bragg, N.C., to Southwest Asia to help the Air Force prepare supplies for airdrop to ground forces. “We are here to rig life-sustaining food, water, fuel, ammunition, and any other lift support systems” that need to be airdropped in either Iraq or Afghanistan, said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Hervy Tyndall, Det. 7 commander with the 824th Riggers. Eight Army riggers in a crew construct container delivery systems, which, once loaded, are rigged with parachutes for either low- or high-altitude airdrops via USAF C-17s. They currently can prepare 40 bundles for a single airdrop per week but expect to increase that to three airdrops per week in January. (SWA report by SrA. Clinton Atkins)
The U.S., South Korea, and Japan flew an unusual trilateral flight with two U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bombers escorted by two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s, and two ROK Air Force KF-16 fighters—both countries’ respective variants of the F-16—July 11. That same weekend, the top military officers of the three nations…