Special operations airmen from Kadena AB, Japan, executed a parachute jump onto Wake Island in the Western Pacific to clear the island’s runway following a typhoon earlier this month. “Special tactics operators and MC-130 aircrew provide a rapid response to difficult problems that makes it safer for the next guy to get the job done,” Lt. Col. Edmund Loughran, commander of Kadena’s 320th Special Tactics Squadron, said in a release. All personnel were evacuated from Wake ahead of Typhoon Halola, leaving it vacant since July 15, according to officials. The 353rd Special Operations Group airmen surveyed and cleared the runway permitting contingency responders aboard a C-17 to land 20 minutes later to begin reopening the base. “It was critical that we open the airfield and get Wake Island back online quickly,” said 36th Contingency Response Group Commander Col. Lee Anderson from Andersen AFB, Guam. The 353rd SOG flew the mission aboard a 1st Special Operations Squadron MC-130H Combat Talon II on July 18.
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.
