US European Command is undergoing a huge change. (Read our article from 2003 for background.) Large American bases reminiscent of the Cold War are being replaced with smaller regional training centers, such as ones that are being established in Romania and Bulgaria, where combat brigades will rotate on training and security cooperation missions. To help with this transformation, said EUCOM’s new deputy commander, Army Gen. William Ward, the command has created an Eastern European Task Force. The EETF comprises a small permanent staff whose function is to aid those US forces rotating through Romania and Bulgaria.
When Lt. Col. Dustin Johnson was ordered to deploy to the Middle East last year, he and his fellow F-22 Raptor pilots prepared for an unusual challenge. As America’s premier air superiority fighter, the F-22 was designed to take on advanced enemy aircraft, capable of maneuvering stealthily and cruising at supersonic…