The Air Force dispatched a C-17 transport on a medical flight to Antarctica to evacuate a seriously ill contractor supporting National Science Foundation research there. Departing its home station of JB Lewis-McChord, Wash., Tuesday, the aircraft landed briefly at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, where a 13th Air Force medical team embarked. The C-17 then continued on to the Antarctic. Described in serious though stable condition, the patient was slated for evacuation to medical facilities at Christchurch, New Zealand, to undergo treatment. Given the limited treatment options on Antarctica, the NSF asked the USAF-led Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica to send the C-17 to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, for the evacuation. The task force provides logistical support to US scientific researchers near the South Pole. (Pearl Harbor-Hickam release)
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
