The ongoing drawdown of combat forces in Afghanistan is not expected to affect two of the US military’s core operational requirements there: readily evacuating wounded troops to the nearest hospital facility and quickly having a close air support asset overhead, said Maj. Gen. Tod Wolters, who was the top Air Force general there from May 2011 to May 2012. Coalition forces have strived to adhere to the “golden hour” rule, which means evacuating casualties from the battlefield to the nearest hospital within 60 minutes of their injury, Wolters told attendees of his Aug. 14 talk in Arlington, Va., that AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Airpower Studies hosted. The average is actually closer to 40 minutes to 45 minutes, which means those who are wounded have an even better chance of survival, said Wolters. For close air support, the requirement is to have an asset overhead to protect ground troops within 12 minutes, he said. Today, that average is closer to eight minutes, he added. “That’s a pretty phenomenal accomplishment,” said Wolters, who now heads the Air Force’s legislative liaison office in the Pentagon.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
