Turkish air strikes in northern Syria threatened the safety of U.S. military personnel, and the escalating situation jeopardized years of progress against Islamic State militants, the Pentagon said. The public comments represented the strongest condemnation by the United States of NATO-ally Turkey's recent air operations against a Kurdish militia in northern Syria to date.
Air Force and Space Force service members, or their spouses, who are victims of sexual crimes or domestic violence may more easily relocate to new duty stations under recent rule changes. The changes, which took effect Oct. 28, lift a requirement that alleged victims who file unrestricted reports obtain a waiver before they can receive an expedited transfer within their first four years at a duty station.
“We see them experiencing significant shortages of artillery munitions and reaching out to Iran and North Korea to get help from them,” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III told reporters while traveling back from Cambodia after a five-day trip that covered Canada and Southeast Asia, including a meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe. Austin, a retired four-star general who last led U.S. Central Command during the early days of the U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in 2015 and 2016, said the dire shortages have impacted Russia’s military approach, which is “to use vast amounts of artillery and then, at the eleventh hour, maneuver.” “For that kind of operation, it requires a lot of munitions,” he added. “I’m not sure they have those kinds of munitions to be able to support that going forward."
Biden administration officials have assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use chemical weapons in Ukraine first before resorting to a nuclear confrontation with NATO if his troops continue to lose ground. The concerns, according to six people with knowledge of the matter, come amid a push by the administration to ensure allies are prepared for such an event, as well as to mobilize new resources and investments in manufacturing of detection systems for when the chemicals are used.
Fifty-one Airmen at Joint Base Charleston, S.C., received one of the most prestigious awards in the Air Force in recognition of their performance during Operation Allies Refuge. Among the 51 Distinguished Flying Cross recipients was Tech Sgt. Ethan Schaffner, whose job as a flying crew chief was to ride on a C-17 transport jet and address any mechanical problems that came up mid-flight. Again and again, the jet flew to Kabul, where the crew kept the engines running as they offloaded cargo or passengers, took on equipment or evacuees, then flew back to Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar, where Schaffner and his fellow maintainers would inspect the entire jet so it could be ready for the next trip.
U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will host a component command of the U.S. Space Force (USSF), likely the second regional space command to be established by the United States outside of its mainland, amid growing missile threats from North Korea. The U.S. Department of Defense plans to open a component command of the Space Force under the wing of the USFK, and the USSF is scheduled to integrate the body into its organizational structure by the end of this year, according to multiple high-level government sources.
The Defense Department officially launched its zero trust strategy and road map, part of a larger strategy to overhaul the way federal agencies combat sophisticated threat actors, including those from criminal organizations and rogue nation states. The DOD will move away from a perimeter-based approach for IT systems defense to a system that essentially assumes the risk of breach during regular interactions and will act accordingly. The plan calls for the Pentagon’s full implementation of the strategy and road map by fiscal 2027.
The Air National Guard has released a fielding recommendation for BriteCloud 218 active decoy technology, developed by Italian aerospace and defense company Leonardo. Announced by the company, the issuance of fielding recommendations comes after the successful completion of extensive live trials and evaluation campaigns. As a result of all the assessments, the service concluded that the BriteCloud expendable decoy fulfills all its operational requirements and can successfully provide enhanced platform protection to any fourth-generation fighter jet such as the F-16.
The Bulgarian government is poised to sign an agreement with Sweden and France to lease their second-hand fighter aircraft amid delays in the delivery of American F-16s. Sofia needs an immediate replacement for its aging fleet of MiG-29s, which are expected to be unserviceable by late 2023 due to maintenance issues. Talks about leasing French and Swedish jets started when Bulgaria sent a letter of request to seven countries, including the U.S., to temporarily lease their used fighter jets.
Thick white snow flurried in a heavy wave through the northern sky, barely concealing the green belly and graphite blades of a UH-1N Huey helicopter slicing through the snowstorm. On board were five Airmen who ran through their plan of action: Do what it takes to safely make it to Cascade, Mont., and rescue a local 62-year-old man in debilitating pain from his snow-bound home.
