A massive flex-mobilization of USAF’s C-5 Galaxy fleet over the next week will enable US Transportation Command planners to improve rapid airlift response to crises and contingencies. Forty-one C-5s—18 active duty and 23 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command aircraft—are slated to fly surge capacity operations supporting combatant commands under close watch by evaluators for five days starting Oct. 17. “The 41 daily missions will more than double the 18 we normally execute,” said Maj. Sandy Thompson lead planner for 18th Air Force (Air Forces Transportation) at Scott AFB, Ill. Since 2007, the highest single-day C-5 sortie count stands at 33. Orchestrated by Scott’s 618th Air Operations Center, this mobilization effort will help to “identify the requirements for surging our air mobility forces to support the strategic maneuver capability our nation needs,” stressed Marine Maj. Sidney Welch, TRANSCOM’s exercise joint planning leader. (Scott report by Maj. Michael Meridith)
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.