Citing the federal government’s partial shutdown and fiscal constraints, Pacific Air Forces announced that it is postponing the 2013 Pacific Air Chiefs Symposium from this fall to a yet-to-be-identified date in 2014. PACAF Commander Gen. Hawk Carlisle hosts the symposium on behalf of Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh to discuss defense, security, and international issues with allies and friends throughout the region. The 2013 event would have brought together air chiefs and commanders from 17 countries across the Asia-Pacific. In addition to meetings at PACAF headquarters at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, the participants were scheduled to visit three Air Force bases in the continental United States, as well as Air Force headquarters in Washington, D.C., where they would have met with Welsh. “We will continue to focus on providing support, friendship, security, and stability to the region, even as we face challenges like this,” said Carlisle.
The Islamic State’s Khorasan branch, responsible for the suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members during the evacuation from Kabul, could develop the capacity to strike outside Afghanistan within “six to 12 months,” Undersecretary of Defense for policy Colin Kahl warned. Testifying to the Senate Armed Services Committee on…