The Air Force earlier this week completed its mission of training Iraqi police, representing a significant milestone in the maturation of the Iraqis into a self-sustaining force. During a ceremony Monday at Camp Stryker, Det. 2 of the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron officially ended its activities and transferred authority to the Army’s 94th Military Police Company, which will now advise and assist the Iraqis going forward. Det. 2 was USAF’s final police transition team in Iraq. “Your partnership with the Iraqis resulted in the development of a professional, mature, and capable police force,” said Lt. Col. Dustin Sutton, 732nd ESFS commander, during the unit’s inactivation ceremony. Det. 2 airmen, like their predecessors who worked throughout Iraq over the past several years in this role, taught the Iraqis general police tactics and techniques and assisted them in investigations and other tasks. (Camp Stryker report by SSgt. Sanjay Allen)
Fixing the Air Force’s chronic combat pilot shortage will require more aircraft in the fleet, more flying hours to squadron operations, and retaining more pilots within Reserve components, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.