After three weeks of air-to-air combat exercises between the US Air Force and the Royal Malaysian Air Force, the airmen involved believe Cope Taufan 2006 proved a new level of interoperability. For the USAF F-15 pilots, flying with the RMAF MiG-29s provided a rare opportunity. The whole point of the exercise, says Lt. Gen. David Deptula, commander of the Pacific Air Forces warfighting center at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, was to help create an integrated team and the event “most certainly exceeded” that goal.
U.S. professional military education needs to be more rigorous and data-driven, and the military services need to do a better job of actually utilizing the skills service members learn through PME, lawmakers, academics, and Pentagon officials said in a congressional hearing. Summing up the concerns, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) laid…