The Air Force provides a higher percentage of its force to combatant commanders than any other service, stated Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, during a visit to Southwest Asia. He said: “Every day 53 percent of our airmen are committed to a combatant commander. That’s more than the Army, Navy, and the Marines.”
The withdrawal of about 700 U.S. forces from Somalia required a massive nocturnal airlift, movement of fighters and tankers from the Middle East, and other overwatch from drones and other special operations aircraft, all planned and executed within weeks. The mission, called Operation Octave Quartz, came after former President Donald…