U.S. bases across Europe are building their capacity to temporarily house and screen Afghans fleeing Taliban rule as the Aug. 31 deadline to withdrawal U.S. forces looms. So far, 82,300 people have been airlifted out of Afghanistan since Aug. 14. In a 24-hour period ending ...
Air
With a rapidly approaching deadline to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said the evacuation mission is on pace to finish by Aug. 31, though he has asked the Pentagon for contingency plans should that change. U.S. and coalition efforts have evacuated ...
A trio of B-2s from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., arrived in Iceland on Aug. 24, ahead of a Bomber Task Force mission in which they will conduct training across Europe and Africa. The bombers and their crews, from the 509th Bomb Wing, will integrate ...
Within a 24-hour span ending early Aug. 23, 25 C-17s, three C-130s, and 61 chartered and commercial aircraft had flown out of Kabul, carrying about 16,000 passengers, 11,000 of which were on U.S. military aircraft, marking the largest single-day total of the airlift. Some 37,000 ...
At least three babies have been born during the airlift mission out of Kabul, as U.S. and international aircraft race to fly out at-risk Afghans and American citizens from the now Taliban-controlled country. Air Mobility Command on Aug. 21 said that during a C-17 flight ...
The State Department has not recognized the Taliban government, and despite the presence of dozens of U.S.-provided aircraft and hundreds of Afghan service members in neighboring countries, the U.S. is focusing its attention on evacuating the thousands of Afghans and Americans still in Afghanistan. The ...
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Aug. 22 activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet to assist with the ongoing airlift out of Afghanistan. Tens of thousands have fled the country. The Stage 1 CRAF activation includes 18 aircraft—three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, ...
President Joe Biden extended his commitment Aug. 20 to evacuate all Americans in Afghanistan, as well as the Afghans who helped coalition forces, even if it could not be done by a self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline. Military commanders in recent days had promised only “as ...
With KC-135s and KC-10s surging forward to help with the ongoing airlift out of Afghanistan, KC-46s are picking up some slack back home with the new tanker's first operational taskings under Air Mobility Command's plan to have the Pegasus start flying limited operations. KC-46s have ...