US-led coalition aircraft continued to target oil infrastructure held by ISIS, with weekend airstrikes destroying 83 oil tankers in Syria. The coalition has continually hit the oil infrastructure in an attempt to disrupt the money-making system in Syria that ISIS uses to fund its operation. The operation, called Tidal Wave II, has halved the group’s total revenue, US officials have said. In addition to the airstrikes on the tankers near Abu Kamal, coalition aircraft hit ISIS tactical units, fighting positions near Manbij and Mar’a, US Central Command announced. Aircraft in Iraq targeted ISIS headquarters buildings in Mosul and Sultan Abdallah, among several other targets. (See also: Obliterating Oil Operations, Coalition Targeting ISIS’s Oil)
Walking the flight line occupied by Blackhawk attack helicopters and American troops on rotation at the “MK” air base in Romania, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III highlighted the important strategic value of one of NATO’s newest members Oct. 20 ahead of NATO defense ministerial meetings in Brussels Oct. 21-22.…