Members of the 535th Airlift Squadron from JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, joined forces with the Navy’s Special Warfare Unit One from Guam to drop a 19,000-pound, rigid-hull inflatable boat from the back of a C-17 transport. Airmen utilized the maritime craft aerial delivery system, or MCADS, to dispense the boat during the January drill. “With today’s military going joint, it is essential that we merge our technologies and capabilities,” said SMSgt. Chuck Baker, plans and programs superintendent and airdrop loadmaster with Hickam’s 15th Wing. He added, “Each branch has their own specialties, but we need each other to make the overall mission a success. This is why the training in Guam was so important.” MCADS is designed to enable covert delivery of the specially designed boat without detection by enemy sensors or patrols. (Andersen report by SSgt. Mike Meares)
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…