Airmen and C-130s from the 36th Airlift Squadron based at Yokota AB, Japan, landed in Sri Lanka for a week of humanitarian response drills with Australian, Malaysian, and Sri Lankan partners. Pacific Airlift Rally, sponsored by Pacific Air Forces, is an “opportunity to work with and understand the procedures and philosophies adapted by the other nations that may come to our aid in a time of need,” said Sri Lankan squadron commander Sarike Aranayake, of the SLAF’s 2nd Airlift Squadron. “It also prepares us to help out in a situation anywhere in the world,” he added. Held this year at Colombo airport, the biannual exercise began Aug. 22, with aircraft and more than 300 airmen from all four nations participating. (Colombo report by MSgt. Cohen Young)
NASA Boss: Race to Moon Has National Security Stakes
Sept. 15, 2026
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
