In the woods outside McChord Air Force Base, a four-man security forces team critiqued their response to a mock sniper attack. High overhead, cargo jets airdropped pallets onto a target.

And on a grassy field packed with tents dubbed Rainier Ranch, airmen from Turkey and the United States struck up an impromptu push-up contest. Members of the Israeli air force presented a McChord reservist with gifts Wednesday, six days after he had 18 of them to his Mercer Island home for a Sabbath dinner. A South Korean soldier bummed a cigarette from a Malaysian colleague.

It’s all part of the Air Mobility Rodeo, a biennial competition, training session and party at McChord this week that drew more than 2,500 airmen from around the world.

The Rodeo, which holds more than 50 events like aerial refueling, fitness competitions and medical evacuation drills, concludes today.

The competitions get serious; the margin of victory can be as little as a few seconds or a few feet, and teams practice for weeks before. But have no doubt: Rainier Ranch is party central.

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The Air Force’s acquisition strategy to replace its aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers will be "bulletproof" from contractor protests, its secretary said Wednesday.

Michael B. Donley told several hundred airmen gathered at the Air Mobility Command Rodeo competition at McChord Air Force Base that the service wants to avoid the turmoil that derailed last year’s selection process, when the military awarded the $35 billion contract to Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.

The Boeing Co. protested the decision, and the issue quickly turned political. The contract was thrown out, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates put off a final decision so the new administration could make the final choice.

Donley, who has been in the Air Force’s top civilian job since October 2008, said the service remains committed to replacing the Eisenhower-era KC-135 Stratotanker.

"We had lots of opportunities to bypass the tanker program, to skip over it, to say, ‘Too hard to get it done,’" he said at a town-hall-style meeting. "We’ve tried over the past five or six years to get that program done. And we have failed in that mission, and we still have work to do."

"We’re going to get the United States Air Force a new tanker," he said over the sound of cheers. "We’re going to get it done."

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The Air Force's controversial plan to cut 98 positions in a Washington Air National Guard unit that handles highly classified cybersecurity missions could be reversed after U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks inserted an amendment to a defense spending bill that protects the positions.

And Sen. Patty Murray is considering options to add the same protection for the 194th Regional Support Wing to the Senate version of the bill, the Democrat’s spokesman said.

"This unit does important work," Dicks, D-Belfair, told The News Tribune on Thursday. "We’re gonna fight this issue."

The Air Force announced earlier this month it would eliminate the jobs by Oct. 1 as part of its annual budgeting process. That provoked Dicks, Rep. Adam Smith and Murray to issue a joint letter last month to Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, the head of the Air National Guard, asking him to reconsider.

The cuts targeted the wing’s command structure, training, recruiting, retention and equipment positions.

The Camp Murray-based unit – which specializes in cybersecurity missions, intelligence, joint terminal attack control and combat communications – has more than 1,000 airmen, but the lawmakers believed the changes would have crippled the unit's ability to perform its mission.

"We think this was a terrible mistake," Dicks said. "Cybersecurity is one of the most important issues we face."

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Fort Lewis will bid farewell to 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at an on-post ceremony tomorrow morning.

The brigade of about 4,000 soldiers is preparing for its third deployment to Iraq. It served in 2003-04 in Samarra and Mosul. Its 2006-07 deployment saw it spread across the country, with missions in Mosul, Ninevah Province, Baghdad, Najaf and Baqubah.

We’ll be there tomorrow and should have a story up here at noontime.

The London Free Press in Ontario has an interesting story: Its General Dynamics plant there -- which produces the Stryker vehicle, including ones headed to Fort Lewis -- is making London into a boomtown.

Check out my colleague Kelly Kearsley's report on the state helping employers of deployed reservists and National Guardsmen.

From the story:

The new law allows employers to request relief from benefit charges for temporary employees whom they must then lay off when the permanent employee comes back from active military service, according to a news release from the state's Employment Security Department.

The measure goes into effect on July 26. The legislature passed the law this past session.

To avoid being charged for these benefits, employers must contact Employment Security and specify which layoffs are due to military members returning to work.

"We corrected a clear wrong," said Sen. Chris Marr, a Spokane Democrat who sponsored the legislation. "We should be encouraging employers to do what they can to support our servicemen and women, not saddling them with higher unemployment insurance costs for doing so. This new law removes that very obstacle and gets the state out of the way."