Our daily article Photo Of The Day will take you to some very exciting and unusual places sometimes. Today we have the C-17 Globemaster III together with U.S. Air Force aircrew from the 535th Airlift Squadron at the Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, in Hawaii. Above you can spot U.S. Marine from the 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division as he provides security.
Below: a reference to how big the C-17 Globemaster III is. It’s like a highway with wings! The maximum payload capacity of the C-17 is 170,900 pounds (77,519 kilograms). It has a range of approximately 2,400 nautical miles and a cruise speed is approximately 450 knots (.74 Mach).
The C-17 measures 174 feet long (53 meters) with a wingspan of 169 feet and 10 inches (51.75 meters). The aircraft is powered by four Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 turbofan engines, which are based on the commercial Pratt & Whitney PW2040 used on the Boeing 757.
The C-17 is part of the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center exercise 23-01. The C-17 provides full-spectrum readiness and rapid global mobility of personnel and cargo to combatant commanders allowing for forward postured forces strengthening integrated deterrence.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jose Molestina, 204th Airlift Squadron loadmaster, and U.S. Marines from the 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division work in tandem to upload a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle onto a C-17 Globemaster III at Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Hawaii.
Photos and captions by U.S. Air Force, Tech. Sgt. Anthony Nelson, 15th Wing Public Affairs