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)
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.