Members of the 621st Contingency Response Wing from JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., wrapped up operations at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria, and at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania after a more than three-week deployment. Their work was twofold: help assess the practicality of using MK, together with the Romanian Black Sea port at Constanta, as a hub for equipment flowing in and out of Afghanistan; and support the temporary basing of several C-17 transports at MK and KC-135 tankers at Burgas. The tankers supported air operations in Southwest Asia. The CRW arrived on May 9 at both locations to set up airfield operations and pave the way for follow-on aircraft and personnel. A contingency response element of about 50 personnel established cargo operations at MK, while a smaller team of 12 airmen staged tanker operations out of Burgas. (Mihail Kogalniceanu report by MSgt. Laura K. Deckman)
When Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine described the 150 aircraft used in Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he referenced many by name, including the F-35 and F-22 fighters and B-1 bomber. Not specified, however, were “remotely piloted drones,” among them a secretive aircraft spotted and photographed returning to Puerto…
