Approximately 20 members of the 571st Mobility Support Advisory Squadron from Travis AFB, Calif., kicked off a month of partnership building with the Honduran air force at Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Along with airmen from JB San Antonio, Tex., Travis’ expeditionary air mobility air advisors will work together with their Honduran hosts, “sharing ideas and building friendships, all through the lens of our common quest for innovation and our shared passion for flight,” said Lt. Gen. Robin Rand, 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) commander. The Travis airmen will help the Hondurans to develop skills in air base defense, air traffic control, aircraft maintenance, aircrew survival, communications, generator maintenance, and safety. The month’s activities kicked off on Jan. 25. The 571st MSAS supports 12th AF’s outreach in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is one of two such squadrons within Air Mobility Command. (Tegucigalpa report by TSgt. Lesley Waters)
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III conducted virtual talks on April 16 with his Chinese counterpart, Adm. Dong Jun, Beijing's Minister of Defense, marking the first direct talk between defense chiefs of the two nations in close to two years.