The Air Force’s 218th production C-17 arrived for beddown at JB Lewis-McChord, Wash., earlier this month. Col. Bruce Bowers, commander of Air Force Reserve Command’s 446th Airlift Wing, piloted the factory-fresh airlifter from Boeing’s assembly plant in Long Beach, Calif., to McChord Field on Sept. 14, according to a Sept. 21 base release. The 446th AW cooperates with the Active Duty 62nd AW to operate and maintain McChord’s three C-17 flying squadrons. The Air Force has ordered 224 C-17s. (McChord photo caption by Sandra Pishner)
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.