Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Maintainers from the 730th Air Mobility Squadron at <keyword id="1650936" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Yokota-Air-Base">Yokota Air Base</keyword> in Japan spent 10 days at the beginning of November training on a <keyword id="2681253" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="c-5m-super-galaxy">C-5M Super Galaxy</keyword>, the largest aircraft in the Air Force fleet.</li><li>Many bases in the Pacific have no dedicated <keyword id="9106241" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="c-5m">C-5M</keyword> maintenance crew, which means the maintainers based at Yokota need to be able to perform repairs if necessary.</li></ul><p>Yokota Air Base, Japan — Maintainers from the 730th Air Mobility Squadron spent 10 days training on a C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, November 2 to 12 on Yokota Air Base.</p><p>Yokota often serves as a refueling station for aircraft flying through the Pacific, which means a variety of transient aircraft divert through the base, often requiring maintenance.</p><p>"It's important to be knowledgeable about this aircraft because Japan, Laos, Thailand and a host of other nations in the Pacific are potential pit-stops for the C-5M." said Staff Sgt. Adrian Saetern, 515th Air Mobility Wing Regional Training Center instructor from Hickam.</p><div type="image" title="Air Force airmen maintainers C-5M super galaxy" height="1668" width="2500" msid="79309229" hostid="261"></div><p>Many bases in the Pacific have no dedicated C-5M maintenance crew, which leaves Yokota maintainers at the helm for repairs if necessary.</p><p>"If we're not actively working on a specific platform, we tend to lose that muscle memory," said Capt. Kris Haniff, 730th AMS maintenance officer in charge. "That makes this training extremely important and valuable. Even though we may not do these tasks on a daily basis, when the time comes, our guys will be good to go."</p><p>The 515th members also refreshed Yokota maintainers on various system diagnostics procedures throughout the aircraft.</p><div type="image" title="Air Force airmen maintainers C-5M super galaxy" height="1668" width="2500" msid="79309232" hostid="261"></div><p>The 374th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Civil Engineering Squadron firefighters, Airmen on temporary duty travel from Kadena Air Base and Japanese Self Defense Force members also joined in to train extensively on aircraft functions, with aims to familiarize any agency that might need to respond to the Super Galaxy if diverted to Yokota.</p><p>One of the goals of this training is to incorporate the multi-capable Airman concept. We want our personnel to learn operations that don't require extensive training but provide exceptional benefits, like the support and defense of our allies in the Indo-Pacific, said Haniff.</p>

Airmen in Japan spent 10 days training to keep the Air Force's biggest plane flying

<p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usairforce/21083528733/in/photolist-qjxpF4-pqjxoq-pThZgU-pAPEow-deR37C-dTeWQC-pLF9tX-q2cXVY-bw8rU7-cXRuNf-omFSvc-fhdddd-dvEbQh-dNRjFw-psZC9S-pt2gYk-aSPpLk-nXwxuN-pbwXm5-pbxoiD-pqZhkE-hyUdsB-aFzHkt-agxuPk-9wCmh2-ek48B9-afESKJ-BZAZjU-8GixNe-dNKK6c-nvDRzU-axPk23-iEsZ2H-aeteTV-e6VFSF-9wCkFk-cSQL8Q-afC71X-b8tuMB-6KEKGd-bjmDCH-afESNu-9c3A51-afESSW-afC76D-7xGG1W-CddDfS-y85Ay6-tUe7ww-9c3y9b">US Air Force</a></span></p><p class="caption">An Air Mobility Squadron member clears the runway for a C-5 Galaxy at Yokota Air Base, Japan, August 31, 2015.</p><p>Senior Air Force officials want to return a number of C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft to active duty after budget cuts pushed them out of service over the last few years.</p><p>The C-5 Galaxy is the largest airlifter in the Air Force, standing 65 feet high with a length of 247 feet and a 223-foot wingspan.</p><p>The C-5M model, first deployed in 2009, <a href="http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104492/c-5-abc-galaxy-c-5m-super-galaxy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">featured</a> more powerful engines that allowed it to haul more cargo with less room needed for takeoff.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104492/c-5-abc-galaxy-c-5m-super-galaxy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">C-5M can haul</a> 120,000 pounds of cargo more than 5,500 miles - the distance from Dover Air Force base in Delaware to Incirlik airbase in Turkey - without refueling. Without cargo, that range jumps to more than 8,000 miles.</p><p>It can carry up to 36 standard pallets and 81 troops at the same time or a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lockheed-martin-air-force-legendary-c-5-plane-transport-submarine-2016-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wide variety</a> of gear, including tanks, helicopters, submarines, equipment, and food and emergency supplies. The C-5M also set<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lockheed-martin-air-force-legendary-c-5-plane-transport-submarine-2016-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> 45 aviation records</a> in one flight.</p><p><span>Because of previous budget cuts as well as sequestration, the Air Force has already <a href="https://www.dodbuzz.com/2017/05/30/air-force-wants-more-c-5s-on-the-flightline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">moved 12 C-5s and C-5Ms</a> into backup aircraft inventory, "which means we still have the aircraft but lost all manning and funding to operate them," Air Mobility Commander Gen. Carlton D. Everhart II <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/04/04/general-warns-need-boost-airlift-capacity.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told lawmakers</a> at the end of March.</span></p><p><span>Everhart also said the C-5 inventory <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/04/04/general-warns-need-boost-airlift-capacity.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had fallen</a> from 112 C-5s a few years prior to just 56 now.</span></p><p><span></span></p><p class="source"><span>(US Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jeremy Bowcock)</span></p><p class="caption">Airmen from the 9th Airlift Squadron and 455th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron with Marines from the Marine Expeditionary Brigade load vehicles into a C-5M Super Galaxy October 6, 2014, at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.</p><p>In the coming years, the Air Force wants to move at least eight of the mothballed C-5Ms back into service, using newly allocated funds, <a href="https://www.dodbuzz.com/2017/05/30/air-force-wants-more-c-5s-on-the-flightline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according</a> to DodBuzz.</p><p>"We're going to buy back two a year for four years, if we're able to have a predictable budget to get the fleet back to higher quality," Lt. Gen. Jerry D. Harris, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, told the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee <a href="https://www.dodbuzz.com/2017/05/30/air-force-wants-more-c-5s-on-the-flightline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this week</a>.</p><p><span>"I need them back because there's real world things that we've got to move, and they give me that … added assurance capability," <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/04/04/general-warns-need-boost-airlift-capacity.html">Everhart told lawmakers</a> at the end of March. The C-5M's increased range makes it doubly valuable in the vast Pacific theater.</span></p><p><span>"Recently, one of these aircraft flew from Travis Air Force Base, California, to Yokota, Japan," Everhart <a href="http://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1138469/amc-provides-airpower-orientation-to-congressional-staff-members/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> of the C-5M. "It's the only airlifter in the inventory that can make the flight nonstop, which means we can put the American flag on the ground in hours versus days."</span></p><p><span></span></p><p class="source"><span>(AP Photo/Francois Mori)</span></p><p class="caption">Visitors queue to see the interior of the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft, Spirit of Global Reach, of the US Air Force at the 49th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, east of Paris, June 25, 2011.</p><p><span>Air Mobility Command also intends to improve its current active fleet of airlifters, "upgrading the avionics to improve communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management compliance as well as adding new safety equipment and installing a new autopilot system," <a href="http://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1138469/amc-provides-airpower-orientation-to-congressional-staff-members/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according</a> to an Air Force release.</span></p><p><span>The project, slated to wrap up in 2018, will also upgrade C-5As, C-5Bs, and C-5Cs into C-5M Super Galaxies by installing the F-138 commercial engine, the <a href="http://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1138469/amc-provides-airpower-orientation-to-congressional-staff-members/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">release</a> said, giving them a "22 percent increase in thrust, a 30 percent shorter takeoff roll, a 58 percent faster climb rate and will allow significantly more cargo to be carried over longer distances."</span></p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/boneyard-davis-monthan-air-force-base-military-retires-planes-amarg-2017-5">There's a 'Boneyard' in Arizona where most US military planes go to die</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video

The Air Force is calling its largest plane back to the tarmac

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usairforce/21083528733/in/photolist-qjxpF4-pqjxoq-pThZgU-pAPEow-deR37C-dTeWQC-pLF9tX-q2cXVY-bw8rU7-cXRuNf-omFSvc-fhdddd-dvEbQh-dNRjFw-psZC9S-pt2gYk-aSPpLk-nXwxuN-pbwXm5-pbxoiD-pqZhkE-hyUdsB-aFzHkt-agxuPk-9wCmh2-ek48B9-afESKJ-BZAZjU-8GixNe-dNKK6c-nvDRzU-axPk23-iEsZ2H-aeteTV-e6VFSF-9wCkFk-cSQL8Q-afC71X-b8tuMB-6KEKGd-bjmDCH-afESNu-9c3A51-afESSW-afC76D-7xGG1W-CddDfS-y85Ay6-tUe7ww-9c3y9b">US Air Force</a></span></p><p class="caption">Staff Sgt. Randall Ard, 730th Air Mobility Squadron crew chief, clears the runway for a C-5 Galaxy at Yokota Air Base, Japan, August 31, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>A C-5M made an emergency landing in Texas after its nose gear malfunctioned.</strong></li><li><strong>The incident appears to be isolated, but comes months after a fleet-wide assessment of C-5 landing-gear units.</strong></li><li><strong>The C-5 Galaxy is the largest plane in the Air Force, and the C-5M is the latest model.</strong></li></ul><p>An Air Force Reserve C-5M Super Galaxy cargo plane made an emergency landing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on Thursday afternoon when its nose gear malfunctioned, <a href="http://www.433aw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1467841/air-force-reserve-c-5m-emergency-lands-at-jbsa-lackland/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a release.</p><p>The crew, which was on a local training mission, discovered the nose gear was not lowering as they returned to base and declared an in-flight emergency, <a href="https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Air-Force-jet-lands-after-nose-gear-fails-to-12757197.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the San Antonio Express-News. The crew included pilots, flight engineers, and loadmasters.</p><p>The plane landed on its nose and skidded about three-quarters of the way down the runway, <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/03/16/air-force-c-5m-super-galaxy-lands-on-nose-after-gear-malfunction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Air Force Times.</p><p><span>"It's very close to the Boeing hangars, so it used the majority - I would say - half of the runway," Maj. Timothy Wade, a spokesman for the 433rd Airlift Wing at JBSA-Lackland, <a href="https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Air-Force-jet-lands-after-nose-gear-fails-to-12757197.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Express-News.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>(US Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jeremy Bowcock)</span></p><p class="caption">Airmen from the 9th Airlift Squadron and 455th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron with Marines from the Marine Expeditionary Brigade load vehicles into a C-5M Super Galaxy, at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, October 6, 2014.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Wade couldn't say how badly the aircraft was damaged, but none of the 11 personnel on board were injured. Wade told Air Force Times that the cause of the nose-gear failure was under investigation and that it was the first such incident within the wing.</span></p><p><span>"The Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland first responders did an amazing job in assisting the aircrew and securing the immediate area," he <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/03/16/air-force-c-5m-super-galaxy-lands-on-nose-after-gear-malfunction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.</span></p><p><span>The Air Force Reserve wing flew C-5A Galaxy model until June 2016, when it started receiving the C-5M. It now has eight of the Super Galaxy. The wing's training squadron, the <a href="http://www.433aw.afrc.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/680425/733rd-training-squadron/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">733th Training Squadron</a>, and its instructor squadron, the <a href="http://www.433aw.afrc.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/179457/356th-airlift-squadron/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">356th Airlift Wing</a>, regularly do training missions over the area in C-5s.</span></p><p><span>The C-5 Galaxy is the largest plane in the Air Force. It is 65 feet high, 247 feet long, and has a 223-foot wingspan. The C-5M model, which first deployed in 2009, featured more powerful engines that allowed it to haul more cargo with less room needed for takeoff.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>(AP Photo/Francois Mori)</span></p><p class="caption">Visitors queue to see the interior of the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft at the 49th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, June 25, 2011.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Senior Air Force officials decided to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-reactivating-c-5m-super-galaxy-tanker-aircraft-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">call a number of C-5Ms back to active duty</a> in summer 2017, after budget cuts had led the service to move them into backup inventory, which meant the service still had the planes, but no funding or personnel to operate them, Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Carlton Everhart said in spring 2017. </span></p><p><span>Everhart also said at the time that the Air Force C-5 inventory had fallen from 112 C-5s a few years prior to 56 now.</span></p><p><span>Air Force officials planned to start a multiyear process to bring the massive planes back to the flight line.</span></p><p><span>A few weeks after that announcement, the C-5 fleet encountered more trouble, when Everhart ordered <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-c-5-galaxy-standing-down-after-landing-gear-malfunction-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a stand down for all 18 C-5s</a> at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware after two of them had landing-gear malfunctions within a 60-day period. </span>The problems occurred while the planes were deployed to <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/03/16/air-force-c-5m-super-galaxy-lands-on-nose-after-gear-malfunction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Naval Station Rota</a> in Spain.</p><p><span>Days later, Everhart ordered <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-got-parts-from-its-boneyard-to-put-c-5-galaxy-into-service-2017-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a fleet-wide assessment</a> for all of Air Mobility Command's 56 C-5s. </span></p><p><span>The order also included a policy <a href="https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Air-Force-jet-lands-after-nose-gear-fails-to-12757197.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restricting</a> kneel operations on C-5s - which allow the plane to be lowered to ease loading and unloading - to mission-essential requirements only.</span></p><p><span>The review found that the ball-screw drive assembly was causing problems during the extension and retraction of the nose gear. The ball-screw assembly on all 56 planes was replaced - including on the plane involved in the emergency landing on Thursday. (The parts needed to fix the ball-screw assembly were not longer made, so the Air Force got them <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-got-parts-from-its-boneyard-to-put-c-5-galaxy-into-service-2017-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">from the aircraft "boneyard"</a> at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.)</span></p><p><span>Air Mobility Command spokesman Col. Chris Karns <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/03/16/air-force-c-5m-super-galaxy-lands-on-nose-after-gear-malfunction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Air Force Times</a> that the Thursday incident appeared to be an isolated one.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-massive-dreamlifter-takeoff-747-plane-parts-world-2017-1">Here's the massive cargo jet Boeing uses to carry plane parts around the world</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

A rare mishap on the Air Force's largest plane sent it skidding down a runway

<p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">President Donald Trump with Office of Management and Budget chief Mick Mulvaney, at the White House, March 17, 2017.</p><p>The 2018 budget proposal issued by the Trump administration this week details several ways the Air Force will try to correct imbalances in its ranks, as it has struggled to maintain sufficient manpower in the face of <a href="https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Wilson_02-08-17.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">26 years</a> of ongoing combat operations.</p><p>"Continuous combat operations and deployments have produced shortfalls in operational readiness and challenged the Air Force's personnel, equipment, and infrastructure," the budget request overview <a href="http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2018/fy2018_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">states</a>.</p><p>The Air Force's budget request "balances readiness recovery, strategy-based modernization, and acquisition programs."</p><p>The overview says the proposals it lays out will start a multiyear process to recover readiness and full capabilities, though the continuing need to be able to provide worldwide rapid-response operations will hinder that recovery.</p><p>Air Force officials have been warning for some time about the service's personnel shortfalls - particularly of pilots and skilled maintenance crew members - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-pay-pilots-bonus-incentives-to-stay-in-uniform-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">driven by a combination of factors</a>, including high workload, frustrations with Air Force life, and enticements from private industry.</p><p class="source"><span>US Air Force/Master Sgt. Jeffrey Allen</span></p><p class="caption">F-16 Fighting Falcons from the Arizona Air National Guard's 162nd Wing fly an air-to-air training mission against student pilots, April 8, 2015.</p><p>"Manpower shortfalls in key areas remain the number one issue limiting readiness and is our top priority," Gen. Stephen Wilson, vice chief of staff for the Air Force, said in written testimony to the Senate in February, <a href="https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Wilson_02-08-17.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">adding</a> that the service's number of active-duty airmen had fallen from 500,000 during Desert Storm to 311,000 at the start of 2016 - a 38% drop.</p><p>The Air Force boosted its ranks from 311,000 to 317,000 during the 2016 fiscal year and expects to surpass the 321,000 goal it set for the 2017 fiscal year, <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/budget-calls-for-325-100-airmen-in-fy18" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according</a> to Air Force Times.</p><p>But Lt. Gen. Gina Gross, the Air Force's personnel chief, said in March that the service was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-pay-pilots-bonus-incentives-to-stay-in-uniform-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">short 1,211 fighter pilots</a>. As of April, the service was 1,555 pilots short of the mandated 20,300. Testimony cited by Roll Call estimated <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-air-force-considering-stop-loss-to-keep-pilots-2017-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">950 of those absent</a> were fighter pilots.</p><p>The service branch has adopted <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-pay-pilots-bonus-incentives-to-stay-in-uniform-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a number of measures</a> to correct the manpower shortfall, including higher retention bonuses and lower recruiting standards, and senior officials have even broached <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-air-force-considering-stop-loss-to-keep-pilots-2017-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stop-loss policies</a>.</p><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airmanmagazine/sets/72157638517123276/with/11340384865/">via U.S. Air Force</a></span></p><p class="caption">Airman 1st Class Wynthom Thomas communicates with pilots after landing Yokota Air Base, Japan, August 19, 2013.</p><p>To continue expanding the Air Force's ranks, the 2018 budget's "first priority is addressing the longest-lead process - Active Duty end strength - by growing to 325,100 in" fiscal year 2018.</p><p>The budget also mentions "additional increases" in funds to address shortages in maintenance personnel and to support training and retention plans for pilots. In 2016, Congress approved an increase in retention bonuses <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-pay-pilots-bonus-incentives-to-stay-in-uniform-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">from $25,000 to $35,000</a> a year.</p><p>Maj. Gen. James Martin, the Air Force's deputy assistant secretary for budget, <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/budget-calls-for-325-100-airmen-in-fy18" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said on Tuesday</a> that the service aimed to boost pilot production from 1,200 to 1,400 annually.</p><p>Increasing the ranks of maintenance personnel would have the knock-on effect of freeing up more planes for training and other missions, he said.</p><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.af.mil/photos/mediagallery.asp?galleryID=10489&amp;page=1">U.S. Air Force</a></span></p><p class="caption">Loadmaster Senior Airman Dylan Strom enjoys the view during a civic leaders and clergy flight with the 934th Airlift Wing, October 25, 2012.</p><p>The budget calls for bringing the service's <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/budget-calls-for-325-100-airmen-in-fy18" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deploy-to-dwell</a> ratio - the amount of time spent deployed versus the amount spent at home bases - down to 1:4, meaning an airman would spend four months at home for every month deployed.</p><p>In 2015, the Air Force had a 1:5 deploy-to-dwell ratio, though some - such as fighter or refuel pilots or intelligence personnel - <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/budget-calls-for-325-100-airmen-in-fy18" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">saw ratios up to 1:2</a>.</p><p>The 2018 budget <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/budget-calls-for-325-100-airmen-in-fy18" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">provides funds for</a> 200 recruiters to work toward the Air Force's goal of bringing on roughly 29,000 enlisted personnel.</p><p>It also allots money for more than 200 commander-support staff, who would take over administrative duties that had been assigned to pilots and airmen, taking them away from their core duties.</p><p>Addressing the decline in pilots, maintenance crews, and support staff was essential to reducing those deploy-to-dwell ratios, Martin said on Tuesday. Correcting those manpower imbalances was also needed to meet the service's <a href="http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2018/fy2018_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">80% full-spectrum</a> readiness goal, the budget overview notes.</p><p><span>"If we get after some of that, that's going to increase deploy-to-dwell [ratios] and give our folks time to train," he said, <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/budget-calls-for-325-100-airmen-in-fy18" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according</a> to Air Force Times. "They'll deploy, but it'll also give them time to rest." </span></p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-space-plane-x37b-sonic-boom-florida-2017-5">The US Air Force's top secret space plane lands after 2 years in orbit - and no one knows why</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Trump's 2018 budget will try to fix the Air Force's ongoing pilot problems

<p class="source"><span>US Air Force/Master Sgt. Jeffrey Allen</span></p><p class="caption">F-16 Fighting Falcons from the Arizona Air National Guard fly an air-to-air training mission against student pilots, April 8, 2015.</p>The US Air Force has been shedding pilots over the last few years, so much so that it has begun to reconsider admission requirements and duty assignments and is weighing the possibility of paying pilots up to nearly $500,000 to stay in the service.<p>In addition to those inducements, the Air Force is reportedly considering more aggressive measures to retain fliers.</p><p><span>Air Mobility Command chief and Air Force Gen. Carlton Everhart <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/stop-loss-option-air-force-keep-departing-pilots" target="_blank">told CQ Roll Call</a> that he and other senior Air Force generals planned to meet with US airline executives in May to discuss ways to stem the outflux of pilots in a manner that benefits both the service and the airlines without resorting to "stop-loss," or involuntarily extending military personnel's tours of duty.</span></p><p><span>Everhart said that airline representatives were already aware of what was at stake.</span></p><p><span>"I said to the industry … if we can't meet the requirements, the chief could drop in a stop-loss - and you need to understand that," <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/stop-loss-option-air-force-keep-departing-pilots" target="_blank">he told</a> Roll Call. </span></p><p><span>Stop-loss policies have been implemented in the past, but they are not typically well received. </span></p><p><span></span></p><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airmanmagazine/sets/72157638517123276/with/11340384865/">via U.S. Air Force</a></span></p><p class="caption">Airman 1st Class Wynthom Thomas communicates with pilots after landing Yokota Air Base, Japan.</p><p><span>In 2004, when the US Army said thousands of active and reserve troops could be forced to serve an extra tour overseas, John Kerry, a Vietnam Veteran and then a presidential candidate, decried it as a "<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10961-2004Jun2.html" target="_blank">backdoor draft</a>." </span></p><p><span>Later that year, a California Army National Guard soldier <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/18/us/soldier-sues-over-tour-made-longer.html?_r=0" target="_blank">challenged it in court</a>, arguing the stop-loss measure had no relation to the terrorism threat to the US.</span></p><p><span>According to Everhart, the exodus of pilots and other support crew members was having a deleterious effect on the campaign against ISIS.</span></p><p><span><span>"If I don't have pilots to fly, the enemy has a vote," <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/stop-loss-option-air-force-keep-departing-pilots" target="_blank">he said</a> to Roll Call, "and if I can't put warheads on foreheads, then [ISIS] is winning."</span></span></p><p><span><span>The US military's service branches are all dealing with insufficient pilot numbers, but the shortage is especially acute for the Air Force - including active duty, Air Force National Guard, and Air Force reserve wings.</span></span></p><p><span><span></span></span></p><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmTua1kz4tc">John Millman/YouTube</a></span></p>The branch is 1,555 pilots short of the mandated 20,300. Testimony <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/stop-loss-option-air-force-keep-departing-pilots" target="_blank">cited</a> by Roll Call indicated 950 of those absent were fighter pilots.<p><span><span><span>Lt. Gen. Gina Gross, the Air Force's personnel chief, said last month that the service was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-pay-pilots-bonus-incentives-to-stay-in-uniform-2017-3" target="_blank">short 1,211 fighter pilots</a>.</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>The dearth of manpower extends to support crews - the Air Force was lacking <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/stop-loss-option-air-force-keep-departing-pilots" target="_blank">3,400 maintenance personnel</a> at the end of last year.</span></span></span></p><p>Everhart told Roll Call that pilots were increasingly discouraged by the effect that mission requirements and budget restrictions had on them.</p><p>Continuous deployments abroad leave little time for family or training, and while at home, pilots are often pulled in to administrative duty and see little time in the air.</p><p>In an effort to keep them onboard, the Air Force has gotten approval to offer <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-pay-pilots-bonus-incentives-to-stay-in-uniform-2017-3" target="_blank">up to $35,000 a year</a> to pilots who stay in the service. Those who max out their extensions and stay 13 years can earn up to $455,000.</p><p>But the draining of the Air Force's ranks is likely to continue, possibly even for a decade or two, <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/stop-loss-option-air-force-keep-departing-pilots" target="_blank">according</a> to Everhart.</p><p>Throwing "more money at the problem," isn't guaranteed to fix it, <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/stop-loss-option-air-force-keep-departing-pilots" target="_blank">said</a> California Rep. Jackie Speier, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee for military personnel.</p><p><span>"Military pilots serve for love of country and for love of flying," she said.</span></p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-donald-trump-personal-boeing-757-private-jet-2017-1">Check out the Boeing airliner President Donald Trump is trading in for Air Force One</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video

If the Air Force can't stop losing pilots, it may force them to stay

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US. Air Force/Roland Balik</span></p><p class="caption">A C-5M Super Galaxy taxis down the flight line before takeoff at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, August 17, 2015,</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>After work by Lockheed Martin and Air Force airmen, the years-long upgrade program for the C-5M has been completed.</strong></li><li><strong>The C-5M Super Galaxy is the service's largest transport plane.</strong></li><li><strong>The Air Force wants to grow its force, including adding another airlift squadron. How it does that is not yet clear.</strong></li></ul><p>In August, Lockheed Martin finished <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-c-5m-super-galaxy-upgrade-done-will-stay-in-air-until-2040s-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">17 years of upgrades</a> to the Air Force's C-5M Super Galaxy, delivering the 52nd aircraft to the service under the <span>Reliability and Re-engineering Program, which began in 2001.</span></p><p><span>At 65 feet tall, 247 feet long, and a wingspan of 223 feet, the C-5 is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-c-5m-super-galaxy-upgrade-done-will-stay-in-air-until-2040s-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the largest transport plane</a> in use by the US Air Force. It <a href="https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104492/c-5-abc-galaxy-c-5m-super-galaxy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">can haul</a> 120,000 pounds of cargo more than 5,500 miles - the distance from Dover Air Force base in Delaware to Incirlik airbase in Turkey - without refueling. Without cargo, that range is more than 8,000 miles.</span></p><p><span>The upgrade program involved 70 modifications to improve the plane's reliability, efficiency, maintainability, and availability. Among them were changes to the airframe; to its environmental, pneumatic, and hydraulic systems; and to the landing gear and flight controls. </span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2018-08-06-Lockheed-Martin-Delivers-52nd-C-5M-Super-Galaxy">Lockheed Martin</a></span></p><p class="caption">An Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy taking off.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>The main addition was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-c-5m-super-galaxy-upgrade-done-will-stay-in-air-until-2040s-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more powerful engines</a> - an upgrade from four General Electric TF-39 engines to GE F-138 engines, which are quieter and will allow the Super Galaxy to haul more cargo with less room needed for takeoff.</span></p><p><span>All together, RERP upgrades yielded "a 22 percent increase in thrust, a shorter takeoff roll; [and] a 58 percent improvement in climb rate," according to a Lockheed release, which said the modifications also gave the C-5M greater fuel efficiency and reduced its need for tanker support.</span></p><p><span>Those upgrades extend the Super Galaxy's service life in the 2040s. But they didn't make the Air Force's largest plane any more comfortable to fly. So the 105th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard took over.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Air Force/Louis Briscese</span></p><p class="caption">Aircrew members from the 22nd Airlift Squadron, Travis Air Force Base, California, unload a double recirculating cement mixer trailer from a C-5M Super Galaxy at Hilo International Airport, Hawaii, May 15, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>"You know, the big Air Force is spending millions and millions of dollars - new engines, avionics upgrades, all that kind of stuff - but then, at the end of the day, it looked like something that would be … on a used-car lot," Capt. Paul Gonzalez, the officer-in-charge of the C-5M refurbishment program team at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York, <a href="http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2018/October%202018/105th-Airlift-Wings-C-5M-Refurbishment-Brings-Modernization-Effort-Full-Circle.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Air Force Magazine</a>.</span></p><p><span>Gonzalez said his team overhauled the C-5Ms' interiors, re-doing many of the features that make using the aircraft bearable for the crews who fly them.</span></p><p><span>They revamped or replaced interior panels, cleaned up crew and passenger seating, and added decals, <a href="http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2018/October%202018/105th-Airlift-Wings-C-5M-Refurbishment-Brings-Modernization-Effort-Full-Circle.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Air Force Magazine. They also reapplied non-skid materials the cargo area for safety purposes.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Air Force/Staff Sgt. R.J. Lannom Jr.</span></p><p class="caption">A Georgia Army National Guard helicopter crew load a UH-60 Black Hawk on an US Air Force Reserve C-5M Super Galaxy at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Marietta, Georgia, July 24, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Each aircraft required 40 days of work. These weren't just cosmetic changes, however.</span></p><p><span>"Even if you have the brand-new interior of a house, if the outside's falling apart, you're still not gonna feel comfortable in that house," Master Sgt. Sara Pastorello, the 105's public-affairs superintendent, <a href="http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2018/October%202018/105th-Airlift-Wings-C-5M-Refurbishment-Brings-Modernization-Effort-Full-Circle.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Air Force Magazine</a>.<br /></span></p><p><span>The team at Stewart pursued the refurbishment project after they learned some 200 maintainer jobs would be lost as the base switched from handling C-5s to C-17s. The project wrapped up in October, after eight years, refurbishing 49 of the 52 upgraded C-5Ms and saving the Air Force $45.5 million.</span></p><h2><span>'The next discussion'</span></h2><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Air Force/Yasuo Osakabe</span></p><p class="caption">Attendees of the 2018 Japanese-American Friendship Festival tour the inside of a C-5M Super Galaxy assigned to the 312th Airlift Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan, September 16, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>The C-5 modernization push began in 1998. The first upgraded one was delivered in 2009 and the final arrived earlier this year - two decades later. But now the Air Force is planning more changes for its airlift fleet.</p><p>In September, the service detailed its goal to build the "<a href="https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/airlift-tanker-annual/2018/10/26/could-the-air-force-restart-the-c-17-production-line/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air Force We Need</a>" by adding another 74 squadrons by 2030, bringing the total to 386 squadrons. The proposal called for 14 more tanker squadrons and one additional airlift squadron.</p><p>Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Maryanne Miller <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/airlift-tanker-annual/2018/10/26/could-the-air-force-restart-the-c-17-production-line/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the end of October that analysis in the plan supported the addition of three new C-17 Globemaster III squadrons and the elimination of two C-130J Hercules squadrons.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usairforce/16711824744/in/photolist-rsLtgo-dNRjrJ-qbtR1E-c4d7v7-jDHBzf-cibdDs-7x6GP5-e5W2CT-7t91jb-qAV1Vh-6ZrmSA-itxFDW-7t9m4m-qjxjvK-pvygzd-joBmDn-mLnWED-r8dLZp-deR2Zi-dKKwLL-qZygnd-itxH3z-ek48f1-7t9hGu-eFvxZS-ek48tU-egbLDn-9ueVcs-deR37C-8BH9wN-mwpR4D-fcCcQc-r8yMNd-ubrbNb-vv34NT-o14LDL-q4ZCRv-dTeWQC-DTrzBS-pYmjsX-o15PWK-bWbkrJ-fQbZRa-CUNPeU-oWnqhj-jt9dkf-qAZ21x-pLF9tX-mwpfMT-eiWtXU">US Air Force photo</a></span></p><p class="caption">A C-17 Globemaster III at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, April 26, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The Air Force is in the process of returning to service eight C-5Ms put in reserve due to the sequester, but those will go to existing squadrons rather than to starting new ones.</p><p>Dozens of older C-5s <a href="http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/24542/usaf-wants-more-airlift-capacity-but-with-c-17-out-of-production-what-could-provide-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were retired</a> earlier this decade, but there are no plans to pull them out of the boneyard - where the Air Force previously <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-got-parts-from-its-boneyard-to-put-c-5-galaxy-into-service-2017-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">got parts to repair other C-5s</a> - and upgrade them to augment the airlift fleet.</p><p>Air Force studies found that the newer C-17, a strategic airlifter, is in higher demand than the much older C-130, a tactical aircraft put to use in transport, airborne assault, search and rescue, aerial refueling, and other roles.</p><p>The rejiggering described by Miller, first reported by <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/airlift-tanker-annual/2018/10/26/could-the-air-force-restart-the-c-17-production-line/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Defense News</a>, would give the service 54 airlift squadrons - one more than it has now.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Vernon Young Jr.</span></p><p class="caption">An Army M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System is unloaded from a C-17 Globemaster III, at Hurlburt Field, Florida.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>But there's always a catch. The C-17 production line run by Boeing in Long Beach, California, has been shut down. The firm produced its last Globemaster in 2015, <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/airlift-tanker-annual/2018/10/26/could-the-air-force-restart-the-c-17-production-line/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> News.</p><p>Restarting it would be an expensive proposition, and Miller said it's one the service has not discussed with Boeing, stressing that discussions of the airlift fleet's future composition will also be shaped by a study that is underway.</p><p>"Those are the details that we have not looked at," Miller <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/airlift-tanker-annual/2018/10/26/could-the-air-force-restart-the-c-17-production-line/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> of restarting the production line. "That will be the next discussion as we proceed, talking with Congress and working with Congress, because the same would apply for the tanker fleet. <span>An additional 14 squadrons by 2030 - what would be the path to get there?"</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-massive-dreamlifter-takeoff-747-plane-parts-world-2017-1">Here's the massive cargo jet Boeing uses to carry plane parts around the world</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

After some touch-ups, the Air Force's biggest plane is ready to soar for decades, but the service has other transport problems to solve

<p class="source"><span>(AP Photo/Francois Mori)</span></p><p class="caption">Visitors wait to see the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy at the 49th Paris Air Show, June 25, 2011.</p><p>Air Mobility Command has grounded the C-5 Galaxy cargo planes operating at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware after the second malfunction of a nose landing-gear unit in the past 60 days.</p><p>The stand-down order, issued on July 17, affects all 18 C-5s stationed at Dover - 12 of them are primary and six are backup aircraft, according to a release.</p><p>The Air Force currently has 56 C-5s in service.</p><p>"Aircrew safety is always my top priority and is taken very seriously," Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Carlton D. Everhart II <a href="http://www.amc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1250545/amc-commander-directs-dover-c-5-stand-down/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in a release</a>. "We are taking the appropriate measures to properly diagnose the issue and implement a solution."</p><p><span>Air Force personnel will perform inspections "to ensure proper extension and retraction of the C-5 nose landing gear," Air Mobility Command said. The halt applies only to C-5s at Dover, and Air Mobility Command said it would work to minimize the effect on worldwide operations.</span></p><p><span></span></p><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usairforce/21083528733/in/photolist-qjxpF4-pqjxoq-pThZgU-pAPEow-deR37C-dTeWQC-pLF9tX-q2cXVY-bw8rU7-cXRuNf-omFSvc-fhdddd-dvEbQh-dNRjFw-psZC9S-pt2gYk-aSPpLk-nXwxuN-pbwXm5-pbxoiD-pqZhkE-hyUdsB-aFzHkt-agxuPk-9wCmh2-ek48B9-afESKJ-BZAZjU-8GixNe-dNKK6c-nvDRzU-axPk23-iEsZ2H-aeteTV-e6VFSF-9wCkFk-cSQL8Q-afC71X-b8tuMB-6KEKGd-bjmDCH-afESNu-9c3A51-afESSW-afC76D-7xGG1W-CddDfS-y85Ay6-tUe7ww-9c3y9b">US Air Force</a></span></p><p class="caption">Staff Sgt. Randall Ard, 730th Air Mobility Squadron crew chief, clears the runway for a C-5 Galaxy at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Aug. 31, 2015.</p><p><span>The C-5 is the Air Force's largest airlifter, standing 65 feet long and 247 feet long with a 223-foot wingspan. The first version, the C-5A, entered service <a href="http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104492/c-5-abc-galaxy-c-5m-super-galaxy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in 1970</a>, and several models have joined the fleet since then.</span></p><p><span>The most recent model, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-reactivating-c-5m-super-galaxy-tanker-aircraft-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the C-5M</a>, featured more powerful engines allowing it to carry more cargo and take off over a shorter distance. It</span><span> can haul 120,000 pounds of cargo more than 5,500 miles - the distance from Dover to Incirlik airbase in Turkey - without refueling. Without cargo, its range is more than 8,000 miles.</span></p><p><span></span></p><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usairforce/6073226848/in/photolist-qjxpF4-pqjxoq-pThZgU-pAPEow-deR37C-dTeWQC-pLF9tX-q2cXVY-bw8rU7-cXRuNf-omFSvc-fhdddd-dvEbQh-dNRjFw-psZC9S-pt2gYk-aSPpLk-nXwxuN-pbwXm5-pbxoiD-pqZhkE-hyUdsB-aFzHkt-agxuPk-9wCmh2-ek48B9-afESKJ-BZAZjU-8GixNe-dNKK6c-nvDRzU-axPk23-iEsZ2H-aeteTV-e6VFSF-9wCkFk-cSQL8Q-afC71X-b8tuMB-6KEKGd-bjmDCH-afESNu-9c3A51-afESSW-afC76D-7xGG1W-CddDfS-y85Ay6-tUe7ww-9c3y9b">US Air Force</a></span></p><p class="caption">Airmen load a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet onto a US Air Force C-5 Galaxy at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, August 18, 2011.</p><p><span>In recent years, budgets cuts and sequestration compelled Air Force leadership to begin <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-reactivating-c-5m-super-galaxy-tanker-aircraft-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">taking C-5Ms out of service</a>.</span></p><p><span>Everhart, the Air Mobility Command chief, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-reactivating-c-5m-super-galaxy-tanker-aircraft-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in March</a> that total C-5 inventory had fallen to 56 from 112 a few years ago.</span></p><p><span>But the Air Force has made moves to reverse that deactivation, saying it planned to move at least eight mothballed C-5Ms back into service, using newly allocated funds, over the next four years. </span></p><p><span>That return to service would partially overlap with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-reactivating-c-5m-super-galaxy-tanker-aircraft-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an upgrade project</a> for the current active fleet of airlifters slated to wrap up in 2018.</span></p><p><span>"I need them back because there's real world things that we've got to move, and they give me that … added assurance capability," <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/04/04/general-warns-need-boost-airlift-capacity.html">Everhart told lawmakers</a> at the end of March.</span></p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-two-boeing-jets-fly-together-fighter-planes-787-max-paris-air-show-2017-6">Watch two Boeing jets fly together like fighter planes</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video

The Air Force's largest plane is getting pulled from the flight line after another malfunction

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usairforce/21083528733/in/photolist-qjxpF4-pqjxoq-pThZgU-pAPEow-deR37C-dTeWQC-pLF9tX-q2cXVY-bw8rU7-cXRuNf-omFSvc-fhdddd-dvEbQh-dNRjFw-psZC9S-pt2gYk-aSPpLk-nXwxuN-pbwXm5-pbxoiD-pqZhkE-hyUdsB-aFzHkt-agxuPk-9wCmh2-ek48B9-afESKJ-BZAZjU-8GixNe-dNKK6c-nvDRzU-axPk23-iEsZ2H-aeteTV-e6VFSF-9wCkFk-cSQL8Q-afC71X-b8tuMB-6KEKGd-bjmDCH-afESNu-9c3A51-afESSW-afC76D-7xGG1W-CddDfS-y85Ay6-tUe7ww-9c3y9b">US Air Force</a></span></p><p class="caption">An Airman clears the runway for a C-5 Galaxy at Yokota Air Base, Japan, August 31, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>On July 17, Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Carlton Everhart ordered all 18 of the Air Force's C-5 cargo planes at Dover Air Force Base <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-c-5-galaxy-standing-down-after-landing-gear-malfunction-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to halt operations</a> and undergo inspections after two of the aircraft had landing-gear malfunctions in less than a 60 day period.</p><p>Two days later, Everhart <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2017/07/19/amc-commander-requests-maintenance-assessment-of-all-c-5s/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">extended</a> the stand-down to all 56 of the Air Force's C-5s, ordering them all to undergo maintenance assessments.</p><p>The ball-screw assembly on the C-5 Galaxy, the largest plane in the Air Force, was causing problems with the landing gear's extension and retraction, <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2017/09/05/the-air-force-repaired-more-than-half-its-c-5s-after-a-stand-down-this-summer/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Air%20Force%20DNR%2009-05-17&amp;utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Air%20Force%20-%20Daily%20News%20Roundup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according</a> to Air Force Times.</p><p>The C-5's nose landing gear uses two ball-screw drive assemblies working together to extend and retract, <a href="http://www.amc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1265848/amc-commander-directs-return-of-five-dover-c-5s-to-flying-orders-fleet-wide-fix/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according</a> to the Air Force. If one of the assemblies doesn't work, the gear can't operate. (The Dover stand-down came a little over a year after the C-5M Super Galaxies stationed there <a href="http://www.amc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/785785/dover-c-5-departure-reliability-rate-reaches-all-time-high/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">achieved</a> the highest departure-reliability rate in their history.)</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>(US Air Force photo/Roland Balik)</span></p><p class="caption">A C-5M Super Galaxy lands at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, April 4, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Inspections revealed that the parts needed to fix the malfunctions are no longer made. But, Everhart told Air Force Times, maintenance personnel were able to get the needed parts from the aircraft "boneyard" belonging to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona.</p><p>As of September 1, 38 of the Air Force's 56 C-5s were back in service. By Monday, three of them had been sent to support hurricane relief efforts in Houston.</p><p><span>"Returning the C-5 to service so quickly is a maintainer success story. I can't say enough about our maintainers' ingenuity, hard work and pride," Everhart <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2017/09/05/the-air-force-repaired-more-than-half-its-c-5s-after-a-stand-down-this-summer" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> Air Force Times, adding that his command was looking at adaptive techniques like 3D-printing to supply parts and at predictive maintenance to catch malfunctions before they happen.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airmanmagazine/sets/72157632591613825/with/8409347644/">Bennie Davis via U.S. Air Force</a></span></p><p class="caption">C-5 Galaxies tower over fighter and cargo aircraft at the "boneyard" of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>The Air Force's "boneyard" in Arizona (there is more than one "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/victorville-california-airplane-boneyard-photo-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">boneyard</a>") provides long-term storage for a wide array of mothballed or unused aircraft - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-marines-bailed-out-by-the-boneyard-2016-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more than 3,800</a> as of mid-2016. Though they languish under the desert sun, low humidity in the air and low acid levels in the soil make it a good place to keep aircraft.</span></p><p><span>It's not unusual for the Air Force to pull parts, or even entire planes, from the sprawling facility. </span></p><p><span>In summer 2016, the Marine Corps <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-marines-bailed-out-by-the-boneyard-2016-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> that it planned to refurbish 23 F/A-18C Hornets stored at the base in response to a shortage of usable aircraft. In October 2016, after a 19-month restoration process, the Air Force <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-resurrected-b-52-from-boneyard-2016-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">returned to service</a> a B-52H Stratofortress bomber that had been mothballed at Davis-Monthan.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-will-happen-nasa-cassini-grand-finale-saturn-2017-9">NASA is about to destroy a $3.26 billion spacecraft by flying it into Saturn - here's a breakdown of what will happen</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The Air Force got parts from its 'boneyard' to put its biggest plane back into service

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ahn Young-joon/AP</span></p><p class="caption">People watch a TV news report on screen, showing portraits of three Americans, Kim Dong Chul, left, Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song, right, detained in the North Korea at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The three American prisoners released by North Korea have reached Alaska, where their plane has stopped to refuel.</strong></li><li><strong>The men released a statement expressing their "deep appreciation" to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for "bringing us home."</strong></li><li><strong>The three US citizens were released just 57 minutes before Pompeo's flight left Pyongyang.</strong></li></ul><p><br />The three American prisoners released by North Korea have thanked President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for "bringing us home."</p><p>The State Department released a statement from <span>Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song, and Tony Kim</span> after they were taken to meet Pompeo's plane just one hour before it left Pyongyang, </p><p><span>"We would like to express our deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home," they said. </span></p><p><span>"We thank God, and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return. God bless America, the greatest nation in the world."</span></p><p>After meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Pompeo crossed his fingers when asked by US reporters whether the three men would be released from the hotel they had recently been transferred to. They eventually left <span>custody at 7.45 p.m and were in the air 57 minutes later, according to <a href="https://www.apnews.com/4b7802fb42934d18b31c000f4c99c04e/Americans-were-freed-1-hour-before-flight-out-of-Pyongyang">Associated Press</a>.</span></p><p>Their plane re-fueled at Japan's Yokota Air Base, but according to Reuters the plane has now stopped in Alaska. The reason for the stopover appears to be another re-fueling.</p><p>KCNA, North Korea's state-run media outlet, reported <span>that Kim had "accepted an official suggestion of the U.S. president for the release of Americans who have been detained in the DPRK for their anti-DPRK hostilities," using an acronym for North Korea's official name.</span></p><p><span>The men's families were informed of their release after Pompeo called Trump once his plane had cleared North Korean air space.</span></p><p><span>"Though we're not quite back home yet, I welcomed them back," Pompeo told Associated Press. "They were happy to be with us on this plane to be sure," he said.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-university-professor-stephen-gilpin-2018-4">What Trump University was really like - according to a former professor</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

3 US prisoners freed from North Korea release a joint statement thanking Trump for 'bringing us home'

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul><li><strong>During a meeting with veterans advocacy leaders at the White House in 2017, President Donald Trump reportedly confused some people in the room when he appeared to conflate Agent Orange with napalm.</strong></li><li><strong>Agent Orange, which was used during the Vietnam War to clear dense vegetation, is a deadly herbicide with long-lasting effects.</strong></li><li><strong>Napalm, a gel-like fuel mixture that burns slowly and more accurately than gasoline, was used in bombs.</strong></li><li><strong>In his argument, Trump reportedly referenced "Apocalypse Now," the iconic Vietnam War film directed by Francis Ford Coppola.</strong></li><li><strong>The movie includes an infamous scene where napalm is dropped on suspected enemy positions.</strong></li></ul><p>President Donald Trump confused some veterans advocacy leaders at the White House after he appeared to conflate Agent Orange, a dangerous herbicide, with napalm, a fuel used in bombs. According to <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-and-omarosa-had-a-fcking-weird-fight-with-vietnam-vets">a Daily Beast report</a> published Friday, Trump's misidentification was based on his interpretation of the movie, "Apocalypse Now."</p><p>In 2017, Trump reportedly asked the group for ways to help veterans, which was one of his campaign promises during the 2016 election. When he finally got to Vietnam war veteran Rick Weidman, cofounder of the Vietnam Veterans of America, the conversation got "really f---ing weird," according to one attendee cited by the Daily Beast.</p><p>Weidman reportedly mentioned the lingering problems caused by Agent Orange - a herbicide used to clear dense vegetation during the Vietnam War. The human side-effects linger for years after contact. Weidman asked Trump to allow more service members who were exposed to Agent Orange to access benefits, The Daily Beast reported.</p><p>The potential risk from exposure to Agent Orange include cancer, birth defects, psychological problems, and rashes. Around three million Vietnamese and thousands of US and allied troops were <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-vietnam-war-is-not-history-for-victims-of-agent_us_59da4b7ce4b0705dc79aa8d5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> exposed to the deadly herbicide.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>"That's taken care of," Trump said at the meeting, according to The Daily Beast's sources.</p><p>Members were reportedly confused by Trump's response and pressed for clarification.</p><p>Trump suddenly asked the group if Agent Orange was "that stuff from that movie," The Daily Beast reported. As Trump kept talking, attendees said it became clear he was referencing "Apocalypse Now," the iconic Vietnam War film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The 1979 film includes an infamous scene in which napalm is dropped on suspected enemy positions.</p><p>Veterans tried to inform Trump that he was referring to napalm - a type of fuel used in bombs - and not Agent Orange. But the president appeared to be confident in his assessment, saying something to the tune of, "no, I think it's that stuff from the movie."</p><p>Seeking confirmation, Trump reportedly asked other people in the room about the movie's scene, The Daily Beast said. When he finally got back to Weidman, he posed the question again. Weidman said he did not enjoy the movie and believed it portrayed Vietnam War veterans in a negative light, according to The Daily Beast.</p><p>"Well, I think you just didn't like the movie," Trump reportedly responded.</p><h2>Watch the scene from "Apocalypse Now" below:</h2><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/make-america-great-again-hat-christl-mahfouz-ace-specialties-trump-campaign-merchandise-2018-7">Meet the woman behind Trump's $20 million merch empire</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div></hr>

Trump appeared to confuse napalm with Agent Orange - and he reportedly got the idea from an iconic movie set in the Vietnam War

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko</span></p><p class="caption">President Donald Trump waves to the troops at the U.S. Yokota Air Base on the outskirts of Tokyo.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>American automakers sell almost no vehicles in Japan.</strong></li><li><strong>But the Japanese market is relatively small and mature.</strong></li><li><strong>US automakers want to focus their efforts instead on the rapidly growing Chinese market.</strong></li></ul><p><br />President Trump made some <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-japan-cars-built-in-the-us-2017-11">controversial comments about the Japanese auto market</a> while in the country over the weekend.</p><p>The gist of it was that Trump thinks more American cars should be on sale in Japan. He has a point. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/09/business/trump-japan-american-cars.html?_r=0">As the New York times noted earlier this year</a>, when Trump made similar comments, "<span>Of the nearly five million cars and light trucks sold in Japan last year, just 15,000 were American, or 0.3 percent."</span></p><p><span>If that sounds bad, it isn't. The contrast with the number of Japanese-badged vehicles sold in the US is dramatic - Toyota and Honda together control about 25% of the US market. But the US market is also about four times larger than Japan's and based on ferocious competition.</span></p><p><span>Japan's home market is simply too small for a fair-trade relationship to even things out. And in any case, there isn't currently enough excess capacity in the US system to export a large number of Detroit-made vehicles to Japan. US automakers would have to build new plants in Japan, or take over smaller Japanese carmakers, and that isn't something they want to do.</span></p><p><span>They could export vehicles from China or South Korea, but they'd be neglecting - in the case of China most obviously - a growth market in favor of a flat one.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ford</span></p><p class="caption">China is where the action is.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>On top of all that, US companies have been pulling out of underperforming markets; GM exited Europe this year after determining that the return on capital wasn't enough to continue selling cars there. The cost of marketing US vehicles in greater numbers in a sophisticated market like Japan would be extremely costly, and it is unclear whether the Japanese would buy large, lucrative Detroit SUVs on any kind of scale (the tiny number of US vehicles that are sold in Japan, however, tend to be big SUVs and muscle cars - the iconic stuff).</span></p><p><span>The captive domestic market has been critical to Japan's manufacturing miracle and enabled the country's carmakers to export their production philosophies to the US, vastly improving in the process the cars and trucks Americans can buy. Japanese automakers are also major employers in the US, as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-japan-cars-built-in-the-us-2017-11">Business Insider's Bryan Logan reported</a>.</span></p><p><span>Trump has a real problem understanding the global auto industry, and it doesn't seem that anyone who works for him gets it, either. On top of his consistently misguided comments on the car business, he tends to neglect a fundamental, which is that he needs US automakers to hire more workers and build more plants in the Midwest - in states critical to his re-election. </span></p><p><span>That's unlikely to happen as the US market is now late into a booming sales cycle, with a downturn on the horizon. And regardless of what happens at home, the big new market is China. And rather than export vehicles there, US automakers want to build vehicles specifically for China in the Middle Kingdom.</span></p><p><span>So trying to be bigger in Japan would be a waste of time.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-tax-plan-reform-change-take-home-pay-calculator-brackets-2017-11">Here's how to figure out exactly how your take-home pay could change under Trump's new tax plan</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Trump is right about American cars in Japan - but the situation is never going to change

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Some anti-war Democratic lawmakers are torn over the president's abrupt decision to withdraw US troops from Syria and Afghanistan.&#xa0;</li><li>Progressive Democrats who have long opposed American "forever wars" in the Middle East argued that while Trump's unilateral move ignores humanitarian concerns and diplomacy, it is a welcome step towards "foreign policy restraint."&#xa0;&#xa0;</li><li>Some voices on the left made the case that bringing the troops home - regardless of how the decision was made or implemented - is the right move.&#xa0;</li></ul><p>Some dovish Democratic lawmakers are torn over President Donald Trump's abrupt decisions this week to withdraw US troops from Syria - where they were sent without congressional approval - and halve the American military presence in Afghanistan, where the US has been at war for over 17 years.&#xa0;</p><p>Progressive Democrats in the House and Senate expressed nuanced opinions on Trump's unexpected unilateral move, voicing outrage over Congress' failure to hold the White House accountable in matters of war and foreign intervention, and reasserting their belief that the US shouldn't be engaged in "forever wars," while also expressing concern over Trump's failure to address humanitarian or diplomatic crises.&#xa0;</p><p>Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee who has pushed progressives to assert a more coherent foreign policy strategy, argued that Congress has long abdicated its responsibility to approve military action, which is often covertly ordered by the executive branch, and that Democrats shouldn't defend the illegal US military presence in Syria. But Murphy opposed the way in which Trump is rolling out the foreign policy shift.&#xa0;</p><p><span>"Guess what? Our military strategy in Syria - under Obama and Trump - has never made sense," Murphy <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1075487653473206273">tweeted</a> on Wednesday. "Fighting ISIS makes sense, but our half-hearted intervention in the civil war has never been enough to tip the balance but just enough to give false hope to the rebels that they can win."</span></p><p><span>Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat who was the sole member of Congress to vote against authorizing war on Afghanistan in 2001, argued that ending the unauthorized "perpetual war" in the Middle East must be accompanied by a congressionally-approved plan to address humanitarian concerns and a broader diplomatic strategy.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>"While I agree </span><span>we must bring home our troops as soon as possible, there is no plan in place to address the humanitarian disaster in Syria or advance negotiated peace," Lee <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBarbaraLee/status/1075861911114260480">wrote</a> on Thursday. "We MUST end these unauthorized wars, but the manner in which we do it matters."</span></p><p>Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, <a href="https://twitter.com/RoKhanna/status/1075602189576335360">praised</a> the president's move on Wednesday, calling the troop withdrawal <span>"a good first step toward ending our foreign policy of interventionism."&#xa0;</span>He argued that Democrats should remain firm in their call for a "foreign policy of restraint" and called for the end to US support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen and the repeal of the 2001 authorization for the use of military force.&#xa0;</p><p><span>"Instead of criticizing withdrawal from the illegal war in Syria, Dems would have more credibility calling for pressure on Erdogan to have a cease fire, collaboration with allies, and a short timeline for removing troops," Khanna tweeted Friday, referring to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. "Critique the tactics, not the strategy of less intervention."</span><span></span></p><p><span>Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, an Iraq war veteran who has long called for an end to US intervention in Syria,</span>&#xa0;on Friday <a href="https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1076146857649364992">called</a> the widespread GOP opposition to the troop withdrawals "astonishing" and evidence of&#xa0; "<span>just how attached to war some are."</span></p><p><span>Some pundits on the left are also arguing that Trump is making the right decision to reduce US influence in the Middle East, no matter how he settled on or announced the move.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>"It is m</span><span>ind boggling that we, as a nation, are unable to appreciate that thousands of Americans will now no longer be in harm's way, fighting a war that Congress never debated and that much of American public never even knew was happening," Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/21/trump-syria-withdrawal-us-troops">wrote in The Guardian</a> on Friday.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>Ignoring the advice of his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mattis-resigns-as-secretary-of-defense-2018-12">top advisers</a> and triggering the resignation of Secretary of <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> Jim Mattis, Trump announced he will withdraw all 2,000 US troops from Syrian and bring 7,000 troops home from Afghanistan, shortly after he</span><span> declared victory over the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. The move drove the president's secretary of defense, James Mattis, to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mattis-resigns-as-secretary-of-defense-2018-12/">resign from his position Thursday</a>.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>"We have won against ISIS," Trump&#xa0;<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1075528854402256896">said</a> in a video message Wednesday. "We've beaten them, and we've beaten them badly. We've taken back the land. And, now it's time for our troops to come back home."</span><span></span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>A host of top Republicans, the bulk of the foreign policy establishment, and the Democratic Party have all condemned the troop withdrawals and expressed shock and concern over Mattis' resignation. Murphy called the resignation "a na</span><span>tional security crisis," while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell - who very rarely publicly criticizes the president - said he is "distressed" by the <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword>. </span><span></span></p><p>"Withdrawal of this small American force in Syria would be a huge Obama-like mistake," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham<span>&#xa0;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1075407801327984641">said</a> Wednesday, insisting that "ISIS is not defeated."</p><p>Florida Sen. Marco Rubio<span>&#xa0;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1075411527933550592">called</a><span>&#xa0;</span>the president's decision a "grave error," while Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois<span>&#xa0;</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/19/trump-undermines-his-entire-national-security-team-syria/">told</a><span>&#xa0;</span>The Washington Post that "history will look at this as one of the stupidest strategic moves."</p><p>Mattis has publicly argued that the US must maintain its presence in Syria in order to suppress a resurgence of ISIS.&#xa0;</p><section data-slideshow-container="" data-post-type="slideshow" data-track-page-area="Post" data-slideshow-type="one-page-view"><section data-slideshow-inner-content=""><div data-slideshow-slide-container=""><div data-slide-wrapper=""><div id="islamic-state-4" data-slide-number="4" data-slide-anchor="#islamic-state-4" data-slide-title="ISIS" data-slide="" data-e2e-name="slide-4"><div><div><p>"Getting rid of the caliphate doesn't mean you then blindly say okay, we got rid of it, march out, and then wonder why the caliphate comes back," Mattis<span>&#xa0;</span><a href="https://dod.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1644076/secretary-mattis-media-availability-at-the-pentagon/">said</a><span>&#xa0;</span>in September.</p></div></div></div></div></div></section></section><p>US troops are training, advising, and assisting Afghan forces and carrying out counterterrorism operations against regional terror groups, like ISIS and Al Qaeda. In September of last year, Trump<span>&#xa0;</span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41314428">ordered</a><span>&#xa0;</span>the deployment of an additional 3,000 troops to Afghanistan.</p><p><em>Ryan Pickrell contributed to this report.&#xa0;</em></p><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-best-salesman-barbara-corcoran-has-ever-met-2018-12">Barbara Corcoran on Donald Trump: 'He is the best salesman I've ever met in my life'</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

You Searched For "Yokota Air Base" and got 12 results

Airmen in Japan spent 10 days training to keep the Air Force's biggest plane flying

Airman 1st Class Tyrone Thomas

The Air Force is calling its largest plane back to the tarmac

Christopher Woody

A rare mishap on the Air Force's largest plane sent it skidding down a runway

Christopher Woody

Trump's 2018 budget will try to fix the Air Force's ongoing pilot problems

Christopher Woody

If the Air Force can't stop losing pilots, it may force them to stay

Christopher Woody

After some touch-ups, the Air Force's biggest plane is ready to soar for decades, but the service has other transport problems to solve

Christopher Woody

The Air Force's largest plane is getting pulled from the flight line after another malfunction

Christopher Woody

The Air Force got parts from its 'boneyard' to put its biggest plane back into service

Christopher Woody

3 US prisoners freed from North Korea release a joint statement thanking Trump for 'bringing us home'

Tara Francis Chan

Trump appeared to confuse napalm with Agent Orange - and he reportedly got the idea from an iconic movie set in the Vietnam War

David Choi

Trump is right about American cars in Japan - but the situation is never going to change

Matthew DeBord

'We MUST end these unauthorized wars': the anti-war left hesitantly celebrates Trump's troop pullout

Eliza Relman

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides