Charleston Airmen began the distribution Sept. 30 of a new version of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle from here.
The MRAP All-Terrain Vehicles, or M-ATVs, were the first to be delivered to the Afghanistan theater for operational use, and many more are to come said, David Hansen, deputy program manager with the Joint MRAP Vehicle Program in Quantico, Va.
The distribution officially began when two brand-new M-ATVs departed the base bound for Afghanistan in the early morning hours aboard a C-17 Globemaster III from McChord AFB, Wash.
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Defense Department officials announced Sept. 30, the details for distributing $555 million available under the Homeowners Assistance Program.
The program is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in February, and it's designed to partially reimburse those whose service to the nation has required them to relocate and sell their primary residence at a loss.
Those eligible include active and former servicemembers of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard. It also includes Defense Department and Coast Guard civilian employees and nonappropriated fund civilians.
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Iraqi air force officials officially began fully independent C-130 air operations Sept. 29, marking the end of the U.S. C-130 air advisory mission here.
A ceremony deactivating the U.S. Air Force's 321st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron and marking assumption of C-130 operations, maintenance and training by the Iraqi air force's Squadron 23 formalized the milestone.
Presiding over the event were Maj. Gen. Robert C. Kane, the 321st Air Expeditionary Wing commander and director of the Air Force's Iraq training and advisory mission; Staff Lt. Gen. Anwar Hamad Amen Ahmed, the Iraqi air force commander; Brig. Gen. Kareem Ali Abud, commander of the Iraqi air force's New Al-Muthana Air Base; and Col. Christopher Pehrson, commander of the U.S. Air Force's 321st Air Expeditionary Advisory Group.
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The 375th Airlift Wing here officially became the 375th Air Mobility Wing Sept. 30 as a result of the Air Force's most recent Total Force Integration effort.
The TFI effort called for the creation of an associate unit consisting of active duty KC-135 pilots, boom operators and maintainers who will work side-by-side with their counterparts in the Illinois Air National Guard's 126th Air Refueling Wing, also located at Scott Air Force Base.
The 375th Operations Group staff will have administrative responsibilities for 135 aircrew members and maintainers under the 906th Aerial Refueling Squadron, which is expected to be fully staffed and operational by the fall of 2011. The 906th ARS is a new designator for the unit that is moving from Grand Forks AFB, N.D. The Air Guard's 126th ARW will maintain the operational direction and control of mission execution responsibility for these Airmen.
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About 90 Hawaii National Guard members aboard two C-17 Globemaster IIIs are on their way to American Samoa this morning to help in the recovery efforts on the Pacific island, National Guard officials here announced Sept. 30.
Two C-17s from the 154th Wing, an associate unit based at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, are currently scheduled to fly to the island Sept. 30, after an 8.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Samoa Islands region on Sept. 29 that resulted in a destructive tsunami with 15 to 20 foot waves impacting the east side of American Samoa.
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A critical care air transport team, or CCATT, with the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, received an urgent call the morning of June 24. A Marine had been severely injured by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan and needed immediate evacuation to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany.
The Marine had arrived at the forward operating base hospital only six hours earlier in full cardiac arrest after sustaining the injury, said Maj. Brian Zagol, a critical care physician with the 451st Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight at Kandahar.
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More than 30 South Korean and American law enforcement agents met at Kunsan Air Base Sept. 3 for a joint forces maritime threat working group hosted by Air Force Office of Special Investigations officials here.
This inaugural meeting had representatives from the South Korean Defense Security Command, the South Korean National Police, South Korean Coast Guard, customs and immigration agents and members from both the South Korean air force and U.S. armed forces representatives.
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Every year the costs for Tricare-covered inpatient services are reviewed and are subject to change. For the coming fiscal 2010, which runs Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2010, there is an increase for some out-of-pocket costs paid by Tricare Standard beneficiaries at civilian hospitals for inpatient care and inpatient behavioral health services.
The daily cost share for retirees, their families and other eligible beneficiaries using Tricare Standard for inpatient admissions at civilian hospitals has increased from $535 to $645 per day or 25 percent of the total charge, whichever is less. Additionally, these beneficiaries pay 25 percent of the Tricare-allowable charge for separately billed professional services.
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Members of the Strategic Airlift Capability conducted its first mission in support of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan Sept. 29.
The first ISAF-related flight by SAC's operational component, the Heavy Airlift Wing based in Papa Air Base in Hungary, delivered materiel to Mazar-e Sharif, to supply Swedish troops in the Afghan theater.
The HAW has already flown several operational missions, including flights to support Kosovo Forces, but the first trip to Afghanistan was an important milestone for the SAC program, which was launched three years ago in order to acquire three C-17 Globemaster III, to meet strategic airlift requirements of the 10 participating member nations.
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Early during World War II, German U-boats operating in the North Atlantic decimated allied shipping until a Dayton engineer helped design a fleet of computing machines that deciphered coded Nazi communications faster than the U-boat commanders could themselves.
Today, the U.S. and its allies face a similar challenge from an enemy that often strikes from the shadows at a time and place of its choosing, said Dr. David Jerome, director of the Air Force Research Laboratory Sensors Directorate.
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