US joint terminal attack controllers and supporting personnel joined forces with their counterparts from 14 NATO partner countries in Grafenwoehr, Germany, for exercise Allied Strike 2011. “The value of this event is the fact that we can bring so many people together in a concentrated environment,” said Col. Jon Berry, exercise director and commander of the 4th Air Support Operations Squadron in Mannheim, Germany. “We can fully integrate not only the operators, but our support personnel as well, in order to get maximum value for our training in a very short amount of time.” Air Force instructors ran six of the eight primary training activities used to refine tactics, techniques, and procedures for calling in close air support in a variety of situations. Belgian and Danish JTACs ran the other two. The 10-day exercise concluded on July 2. (Grafenwoehr report by Capt. Tristan Hinderliter)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.