The fledgling Iraqi Air Force on July 9 took delivery of 11 training aircraft from the United States during a transfer-of-ownership ceremony at New Al Muthana AB. Iraq. During the event, Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, the new commander of Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq, signed over eight Cessna 172 and three larger, more advanced Cessna Caravan 208 airplanes worth more than $9 million to Iraqi Defense Minister Abd al-Qadir al-Mufriji. The Iraqis will use the aircraft for pilot training at Kirkuk Regional AB. Also at the ceremony, the IAF unveiled its newly purchased Beechcraft King Air surveillance and light transport aircraft. (New Al Muthana report Army SSgt. Michael Carden)
The defense intelligence community has tried three times in the past decade to build a “common intelligence picture”—a single data stream providing the information that commanders need to make decisions about the battlefield. The first two attempts failed. But officials say things are different today.