Some 80 personnel from the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein AB, Germany, and three C-130Js deployed to Otopeni AB, Romania, earlier this month to support Carpathian Summer, according to an Aug. 19 release. Though the training event is bilateral, the Air Force has transferred authority for the C-130Js to NATO for the duration of the exercise, a normal procedure intended to build readiness and interoperability for US and Romanian forces to prepare for combined air operations under the Alliance’s authority, states the release. NATO allies regularly transfer air assets to Alliance control, for use in training exercises and deployments, such as the NATO’s Baltic air policing mission. In addition to building joint air readiness, the event allows C-130J airmen to get training in tasks not readily available at home station in Germany, said Capt. Douglas Mabe, a pilot with the 37th Airlift Squadron. As part of efforts to support Operation Atlantic Resolve, US Air Forces Europe-Air Forces Africa has ramped up its engagement and training with eastern NATO allies such as Romania. (See also Looking East from the September 2014 issue of Air Force Magazine.)
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.
