Air Force aircraft helped evacuate about 700 family members from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, this past weekend in preparation for an approaching hurricane. Four C-17s and two C-130s provided by US Transportation Command took part in the relocation to NAS Pensacola, Fla., according to a Navy release. Cuba has been issued a hurricane warning for the storm, Hurricane Matthew, which was a Category 4 storm with sustained winds near 140 mph as of Monday evening, according to the National Weather Service. Several hours of winds above 60 mph are expected at the base, according the Navy. The 4,800 personnel remaining at Guantanamo Bay and 61 detainees held there will shelter in place when the storm hits, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said Monday, according to a release.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
