A C-17 and its aircrew operating with the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in Southwest Asia delivered the one millionth ton of theater direct delivery cargo for US Central Command. “This is a major accomplishment for the C-17 community and theater direct delivery,” said Lt. Col. Doug Edwards, TDD division chief in the 618th Air and Space Operations Center at Scott AFB, Ill. TDD C-17s are forward deployed in CENTCOM’s area of responsibility to fly airlift and airdrop missions throughout Afghanistan and Iraq when air delivery requirements are high. The concept started in 2005. Unlike deployed tactical airlifters, such as C-130s, the 618th AOC oversees the TDD missions and not the air operations center in the theater. The historic mission took place on Oct. 21, with the C-17 bringing equipment and supplies to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. (Scott report by Capt. Justin Brockhoff)
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
