Combat Aircraft hikes the vast ramps of Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, the US Air Force’s largest and busiest C-17A Globemaster III base, and interviews the commander of the 437th Airlift Wing to find out what it takes to execute rapid global mobility operations.

EVERYTHING ABOUT JOINT Base Charleston is vast. Whether it’s the hectares of real estate it occupies in South Carolina, the number of tenant units, the enormity of the flightlines, the huge hangar space or the cavernous hold of the C-17A Globemaster IIIs that haul people and equipment out of here every day, it’s big, impressive stuff.