Air transportation requirements within US Central Command’s 27-nation area of responsibility reached an all-time high in March, but air mobility airmen responded by setting new one-month records for passengers and cargo moved, all while maintaining a 91 percent on-time delivery rate. Airmen moved nearly 120,000 passengers and 41,350,000 tons of cargo around the Middle East, Near East, and Horn of Africa, eclipsing the previous marks by 3 percent and 7 percent, respectively. “Maintaining effectiveness under these conditions is a significant accomplishment by our airmen,” said Lt. Col. Brian Robinson, the Air Mobility Division director at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center in Southwest Asia. He credited not only the deployed airmen flying and maintaining the transport aircraft, but also the air mobility planners and schedulers. Commercial air transportation companies carried 27 percent of the record cargo haul. (AFCENT report by SSgt. Shawn J. Jones)
Loved Ones Mourn 6 Airmen Killed in KC-135 Crash
March 16, 2026
Tributes to the six crew members that died in the KC-135 Stratotanker crash in Iraq have flooded social media since the Pentagon released their identities March 14. They were the first Airmen to die while supporting Operation Epic Fury against Iran.