There are not many military operations in the modern era that rank with it in strategic importance. The Yom Kippur War was another instance when air mobility had strategic consequences. In October 1973, with Israel fighting desperately for survival, the United States sent Military Airlift Command to the rescue. They maintained Operation Nickel Grass for the next 32 days, through the end of the crisis. It was a dramatic example of the projection of US power and the use of the armed forces to influence global events.
Air mobility is a military occupation.
Sometimes it is a combat occupation. In January 1968, US Marines at Khe Sanh were encircled and cut off by the North Vietnamese Army. The Marine outpost sat in a valley and was bombarded by intense mortar, rocket, and artillery attacks from the surrounding hills. Until the siege was broken 11 weeks later, Khe Sanh was reinforced and resupplied under fire by tactical airlifters, who took their share of battle damage in the course of 1,128 sorties into Khe Sanh. The primary wartime role of air mobility is to get the other forces to the fight and to sustain them until sealift begins to arrive, several weeks later.