The multi-national Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing declared full operational capability Nov. 14 with its fleet of C-17s at Pápa AB, Hungary, according to a wing release. “We have forged a great example of pooling and sharing, smart defense, and smart support,” said HAW Commander Col. Keith Boone, announcing the milestone to partner nation leadership at a meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, this week. As prerequisites to FOC, the wing demonstrated its full spectrum of assigned roles, with a full complement of aircraft and personnel, as well as sufficient facilities and logistics. “FOC is a significant achievement in the short history of the HAW. … We might be 12 nations, but we are one team,” added Boone. Since standing up in July 2009, the wing’s three C-17s have transported more than 24,000 tons of freight and 32,000 personnel, including missions to Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan, and South Africa.
The top Air Force commander on on the Japanese island of Okinawa has clamped down alcohol and issued a curfew for junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians at Kadena Air Base for the next month. The order came roughly two weeks after a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and…