Airmen from Tr
avis AFB, Calif., operating in Kigali, Rwanda, loaded the final pieces of heavy equipment destined for Rwandan peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur region onto a C-17 Jan. 16. The subsequent C-17 flight represented the final phase of the Air Force’s humanitarian airlift mission begun Jan. 13 and employing two C-17s to haul more than 136 tons of oversized vehicles and special equipment to Darfur to support the Rwandan troops, who are there as part of the African Union-UN peacekeeping mission. Aircrews from Travis piloted the two C-17s. The mission was the first major air operation for 17th Air Force, the air component of US Africa Command, since the organization began full-scale operations last October. (Kigali release by SSgt. Samuel Bendet)
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.