More than 150 airmen from Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and Washington will join with Army solders from Texas to participate later this month in Operation Pacific Angel 2009, a multinational humanitarian assistance exercise in Southeast Asia. The first round of Pacific Angel will occur July 10-24 in Kupang, West Timor, in Indonesia, and in Dili City, in the nation of Timor Leste. The US airmen and soldiers will work with local non-governmental organizations and host-nation militaries in activities including aeromedical evacuation subject-matter-expert exchanges and medical, dental, and engineering civic-assistance programs. A second round of Pacific Angel will take place in September in Vietnam. Pacific Angel supports US Pacific Command’s capacity-building efforts. (Hickam report by Capt. Genieve David)
Boeing’s receipt of the 10th lot contract award for the KC-46 Pegasus this week leaves just three lots left to complete the Air Force’s buy of the tanker, although a further buy of 75 additional aircraft as a “bridge” to the Next-Generation Aerial-refueling System (NGAS) seems increasingly likely.