The Royal Australian Air Force will acquire an additional C-17 airlifter—its sixth—under a $297 million (some $280 million Australian) foreign military sale with the US government, announced Australia’s defense ministry on Monday. The additional aircraft will greatly enhance Australia’s humanitarian and disaster-response capability, doubling its mission-available fleet “from two to four,” according to the defense ministry. Australia took delivery of its fifth C-17 last September, and in the last year alone, its C-17s have flown some 141 airlift sorties, logging more than 1.2 million nautical miles, it stated. In addition to ferrying 755 tons of supplies to Australian forces in Afghanistan, RAAF C-17s carried 500 tons of supplies to Japan following last spring’s tsunami and earthquake, to New Zealand following an earthquake, and to parts of Australia after a cyclone and flooding. The C-17 is scheduled for delivery from Boeing’s plant at Long Beach, Calif., early next year, according to the defense ministry.
New Air Force, Pentagon, and White House initiatives aim to chip away at an issue that has long frustrated leaders and families across the military: spouse employment. For years now, the percentage of unemployed military spouses has held steady at around 20 percent, experts say.
