49 U.S.C. § 41106: Airlift service

has aircraft in the civil reserve air fleet or offers to place the aircraft in that fleet; and holds a certificate issued under section 41102 of this title . The Secretary of Transportation shall act as expeditiously as possible on an application for a certificate under section 41102 of this title to provide airlift service. Except as provided in subsection (d), the transportation of passengers or property by CRAF-eligible aircraft between a place in the United States and a place outside the United States obtained by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military department through a contract for airlift service shall be provided by an air carrier referred to in subsection (a). The transportation of passengers or property by CRAF-eligible aircraft between two places outside the United States obtained by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military department through a contract for airlift service shall be provided by an air carrier referred to in subsection (a) whenever transportation by such an air carrier is reasonably available. When the Secretary of Defense decides that no air carrier holding a certificate under section 41102 is capable of providing, and willing to provide, the airlift service, the Secretary of Defense may make a contract to provide the service with an air carrier not having a certificate. In this section, “CRAF-eligible aircraft” means aircraft of a type the Secretary of Defense has determined to be eligible to participate in the civil reserve air fleet.