The Pentagon still is not deviating from the promise to keep American boots off of Syrian soil. That includes joint terminal attack controllers, even though Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville, director of operations on the Joint Staff, acknowledged Tuesday that having JTACS on the ground is “obviously something that we prefer to do when collateral damage or concerns about precision in a closed environment” is a factor. “But, we don’t always have to strike with JTACS forward. We’ve been doing this very successfully thus far in places, not only the rural places like you saw in Mount Sinjar and as we moved to support the Pesh and Iraqi forces … [around the] Mosul Dam, but also in the Haditha area, which is a relatively built-up area.”
The Defense Department hasn’t seen an increase in domestic violence reports among military families since the new coronavirus crisis began, despite the COVID-19 pandemic reportedly causing a spike in such activity across the globe, the head of the Pentagon’s Office of Military Family Readiness Policy told reporters Oct. 29. However,…