On December 1, 2025, a C-17 Globemaster III from the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 204th Airlift Squadron traced the coastal cliffs of Molokai at low altitude, flying a demanding training route out of Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam as reported by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) on December 10, 2025. The sortie, recorded in a new series of official images, was not a simple currency check but a rehearsal for operating close to terrain, far from large airfields and under time pressure. In a region increasingly defined by contested logistics and long distances over water, low-level airlift training has become a critical tool for sustaining forces and populations on dispersed islands. For Indo-Pacific allies and partners, the images are a reminder that U.S. air mobility units are quietly preparing to reach remote or threatened locations even if traditional routes are compromised. Read Full Defense News At this Link.
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| The coastal low-level training flights conducted by the 204th Airlift Squadron show that, behind a single photograph of a C-17 skimming the Molokai shoreline, there is a sustained effort to keep complex, high-risk skills current in an increasingly demanding strategic environment (Picture Source: DVIDS) |