Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina, the first base to receive a C-17 two decades ago, took delivery of its 56th Globemaster III. Fresh from Boeing’s assembly line in Long Beach, Calif., Air National Guard Director Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt and Lt. Col. Mike Desantis of Air Force Reserve Command’s 317th Airlift Squadron ferried the aircraft to Charleston on Dec. 9. The new airlifter joined Charleston’s fleet, which the active duty 437th Airlift Wing operates and maintains together with airmen of AFRC’s 315th AW under an association. “This addition to our fleet obviously adds additional combat capability,” said Col. Steven Chapman, 315th AW commander, in accepting the aircraft for Charleston. “Obviously a C-17 is the airlift method of choice for the commander,” he added, taking the aircraft’s symbolic “key” of ownership from Wyatt and Desantis. Overall, this is the 214th C-17 that Boeing has built for the Air Force. (Charleston release)
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III conducted virtual talks on April 16 with his Chinese counterpart, Adm. Dong Jun, Beijing's Minister of Defense, marking the first direct talk between defense chiefs of the two nations in close to two years.