Two senior airmen from Joint Base Lewis-McChord were injured Tuesday in a rocket attack that struck a plane assigned to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey at Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Field.
A report to congressional lawmakers said the airmen were treated for ringing in their ears at a medical clinic at the base. No one was seriously injured.
The attack also damaged a McChord Air Field-based C-17 Globemaster III, puncturing the jet in at least six places. It could take up to four days to assess the damage, the congressional report says.
The plane was parked, and Dempsey, the Army’s top general, was not on it. CNN reported that Dempsey left Afghanistan on a different plane a couple of hours later than he’d planned.
Bagram is one of Afghanistan’s two main air bases. It is often a target of rocket attacks that generally miss their targets.
The airmen serve with Lewis-McChord’s 62nd Airlift Wing.
The Boeing-made aircraft is best known as an Air Force cargo jet delivering service members and supplies all over the world.
It’s also the aircraft of choice for military and civilian leaders in government flying overseas because it can hold a security detail. The C-17 is used from time to time on trips for the secretaries of state and defense, as well as the White House.
adam.ashton@thenewstribune.com
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