US and coalition strike aircraft kept up the pressure on anti-government forces in Afghanistan on July 15, flying a total of 71 close air support missions, Air Forces Centralannounced yesterday. Air Force A-10s, B-1Bs, F-15Es, and MQ-1s were all in the fray. A-10s, for example, dropped 500-pounds laser-guided bombs onto enemy forces near Nangalam and fired cannon rounds at them, while F-15Es pounded enemy positions with 2,000-pound joint direct attack munitions in the same area. Further, in the vicinity of Worzhanah Kalay, F-15Es struck enemy positions with 500-pound LGBs as well as 500-pound and 2,000-pound JDAMs. And B-1Bs attacked enemy forces with 500-pound JDAMs near Bagram and Kandahahr, and an MQ-1 hit enemy combatants with a Hellfire missile near Zormat. Meanwhile, there were 36 CAS missions in Iraq on July 15, including F-16s striking enemy combatants with 500-pound LGBs and JDAMs near Khan Bani Sad.
Twelve National Guard personnel who deployed to the nation’s capital to support the presidential inauguration have been sent home after they were vetted by the Army and Federal Bureau of Investigation, though only two were pulled over concerns about extremism, defense officials confirmed in a Jan. 19 Pentagon press briefing.…