In Afghan
istan on Feb. 24, F-15E Strike Eagles provided close air support to coalition forces near Qurya. Taking direction from a Joint Terminal Attack Controller, the F-15Es dropped a GBU-38 joint direct attack munition and GBU-39 small diameter bomb on the single-story buildings used by enemy forces as small arms fire positions. In Iraq on the same day, pilots of F-16 Vipers assigned to monitor two mosques and a roadway near Ar Ramadi for anti-Iraqi activity, saw that the ground had been disturbed after a stopped vehicle with two men in it moved off. They relayed the information to a JTAC for checkout by ground forces. Meanwhile, other F-16s provided over-watch for various actions, including a medical evacuation and ground force actions, providing real-time reports of suspicious individuals in various locations.
In the final few hours before the Senate adjourned for its Memorial Day recess on May 26, lawmakers approved a raft of some 3,400 pending military nominations, including a number of high-profile Air Force and Space Force generals to assignments that will significantly reshape some of the upper echelons of…