If you see a handful of C-17 Globemaster IIIs filling the sky today, don't worry, it's all part of a special mission at McChord Field.

A large formation of C-17s took off this morning to train for their strategic airdrop mission. Seven C-17s will began taking off at about 10 a.m. and will fly throughout the local area.

Along with active-duty and reserve airmen from the 62nd and 446th Airlift Wings, airmen from the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron and soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are participating in the training exercise, according to McChord Field public affairs.

At different points in the training exercise, aircrews will air drop heavy equipment and personnel. C-17 Globemaster III transporters must be able to meet the Army's goal of airdropping a brigade's worth of troops and equipment within 30 minutes.   The strategic brigade airdrop capability resides only in the C-17 community, according to PA.

Boeing C-17 line workers began a strike just past midnight today at Long Beach's largest private employer, grinding production to a halt on one of the world's leading cargo jets, the Long Beach Press Telegram reported today.

The walkout comes nearly a week after talks broke down on negotiations for a labor contract covering some 1,700 workers responsible for assembly of the jumbo-size airlifter, according to the paper.

For more on the story, click here.

The Seattle Times has a great story about "Hire America's Heroes," a 3-year-old nonprofit group that hosted a symposium Thursday at JBLM-McChord Field as part of an effort to help veterans find jobs. 

Read more about the symposium here.

According to a story on the Air Force's Web site, Air Force officials released Friday the candidate basing locations and the criteria they used to determine the candidate basing locations for additional C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.

The list of candidate bases was approved by the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force: Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport in Martinsburg, W.V.; Memphis International Airport, Tenn.; and Stewart International Airport, N.Y.

The basing criteria were approved by the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force and considered factors such as mission requirements, airspace, facilities and infrastructure, support capacity, environmental impacts and cost. 

Site surveys will be conducted and the formal environmental impact analysis process will begin, allowing communities around each candidate base to participate and provide input. Based on the results of these efforts, officials expect to announce the preferred locations in November 2010. 

Once the environmental impact analysis processes are complete, Air Force officials will announce the final basing decisions. The announcement is anticipated in June 2011.    

(62nd AW PA)- More than 100 airmen from the 8th Airlift Squadron will soon deploy to the Middle East in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. For approximately 120 days, the unit will operate out of a single base, managing and flying missions concentrated in and around Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa. 

The McChord Field airmen will take over the operations of the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. The mission of the 816th EAS is to provide global strategic airlift, airdrop, aeromedical evacuation and humanitarian relief, to create an air bridge for personnel, equipment and supplies throughout their assigned areas of responsibility.

For more on the upcoming deployment, click here.

The X-37B, the Air Force's new unmanned space plane scheduled to launch Thursday, will test a new batch of reusable technologies, including new silica re-entry tiles, as well as "other technologies that are sort of one generation beyond the shuttle," one program official said.

High-tech stuff. Unfortunately, it won't come close to McChord Field. The craft is scheduled to land at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., when it completes the mission. 

Read more about the craft and its mission here.

Here's a great story about a former combat controller (and WSU grad) who was stationed at McChord. He had an accident which damaged his spinal cord but he's now a star skier. Read more here.

For those of you who are members of the social networking Web site Facebook, the 446th Airlift Wing at JBLM-McChord Field recently started a fan page. It has posted a few items on there already, and includes a discussion question under the discussion tab. The Reserve wing is encouraging people to become fans and let them know what you think.

According to a blurb on the Los Angeles Times' Web site, nearly 200 women who served as military pilots during World War II as part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program will be on hand Wednesday to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

One of these women (although I can't confirm she'll be at the ceremony) attended the McChord Air Expo in 2008.

Even the Army and Air Force Exchange Service is going green these days. The new Randolph Air Force Base BX is AAFES' first exchange built to the environmental standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Read more about it here.