By NIGEL PITTAWAY
<< A US Air Force C-17 flies with three other C-17s over the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland, Australia, on July 23. (Nigel Pittaway)
ROCKHAMPTON, AUSTRALIA — Australian and US Air Force C-17A heavy airlifters have flown a tactical air drop sortie together during Exercise Talisman Saber 2013, marking the first time any two C-17 operators from two countries have operated together as a single mission.
The sortie was a tactical airdrop over the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) in Queensland during the biannual amphibious warfare exercise, involving two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and two US Air Force C-17s. “We understand this is the first C-17 interfly with air cargo drop that the United States has done with an ally,” said 1st Lt. Jessica Colby, a spokeswoman for US Pacific Air Forces.
The two US aircraft were operated by crews from the 437th Airlift Wing at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., and the 62nd Airlift Wing from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
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