Air Mobility Command plans to stand up the 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing June 5 at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. The new unit, which will support mobility aircraft and crews transiting the Pacific, is the first mobility wing established outside of the contiguous 48 US states since AMC’s formation in 1992, the command said in a May 30 release. It will become the headquarters for the existing 715th Air Mobility Operations Group at Hickam and the new 515th AMOG at Yokota AB, Japan. “This new wing will provide an enhanced level of control for our en route structure in the Pacific, which includes critical locations for getting people, cargo and patients to and from war zones,” said Col. Richard A. McClain, who will lead the unit.
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.