Lakenheath’s F-35s Get a Nickname: Valkyries

Feb. 16, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force’s first overseas F-35A unit has a nickname: the Valkyries.

The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, U.K., announced Feb. 16 that Valkyries is the winning nickname for the 495th Fighter Squadron, picked from about 700 different suggestions submitted by the public in the fall of 2020. The list was whittled down to five finalists, with Valkyries beating out Archangels, Sabres, Sentinels, and Swordsmen, according to a wing release.

In Norse mythology, a Valkyrie is a female figure that chooses who will live or die in battle, the wing said in a release, adding that there is Norse and Viking history in Lakenheath’s region. Additionally, the squadron’s motto “Mala Ipsa Nova” is Latin for “Bad News Itself,” the wing said.

“Valkyries epitomizes the force’s move toward more inclusivity and equally represents the fifth-generation stealth fighter’s air superiority,” incoming 495th FS Commander Lt. Col. Ian McLaughlin said in the release. “I am honored to be the first commander of the initial U.S. Air Force’s overseas-based F-35A unit. Like the Valkyries themselves, we’ll be vital to determining the fate of our adversaries in the battlespace.”

The wing in September announced it would activate the 495th FS for the F-35A mission. About 1,200 personnel are expected to arrive at the base as the jets come online, and the first F-35As will arrive late this year.

“The amount of support we received, and continue to receive, from the community both here and back home has been overwhelming and highly appreciated,” 48th Fighter Wing Commander Col. Jason Camilletti said in the release. “Basing F-35s at RAF Lakenheath will be a game changer as it will allow us to further advance interoperability with our European teammates, and is a visible demonstration that we—and all of NATO—will continue to own the skies.”

While Lakenheath’s 495th Fighter Squadron will be the Air Force’s first overseas based F-35s, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, is the first USAF base outside the continental U.S. to receive the jets.

Air Force Seeks New Ways to Nip Extremism in the Bud

Feb. 16, 2021 | By Rachel S. Cohen

As Airmen and Guardians pause their daily routines to consider the spread of white supremacy and other far-right ideologies in their ranks, their discussions will fuel department-wide changes to how the Air Force responds to extremism.

The Department of the Air Force last week outlined its plans to temporarily halt operations to discuss extremism as ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III. By Feb. 23, it will roll out materials to commanders to guide those conversations. The Air Force said it will run its own deep-dive into the extent of the issue as well.

“There are many offices involved with creating the content for … this stand-down day, to include the Department of the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s office, the Diversity and Inclusion office, the Profession of Arms Center of Excellence, and the Inspector General’s office,” Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Col. Lindy Singleton told Air Force Magazine.

In particular, it’s an early chance for the newly formed Diversity and Inclusion Office to offer fresh perspective on a nuanced problem. That organization came to fruition as incidents of police brutality and protests over systemic racism last year spurred the Air Force to take a new look at its own culture and equity.

Those and related issues have become more urgent after current and former military members took part in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, prompting the Defense Department to call for a stand-down to consider extremism across the force.

If claims of extremist behavior arise as a result of the stand-down discussions, Singleton said they will be investigated.

“Appropriate action will be taken if the claims are substantiated,” Singleton said, noting that commanders can call for an Airman or Guardian’s separation from the force or other discipline if they find someone who has “actively participated” in supremacist, extremist, or criminal organizations. That applies to civilian or uniformed employees.

“We will be soliciting feedback from these stand-down days that will be used to help guide leaders’ decisions regarding potential follow-on actions,” she added. “We are already exploring multiple options to help provide a more sustainable, proactive mechanism for our commanders to assess and shape culture and effectively respond to deviations.”

Individual cases of those repercussions occasionally emerge, such as that of Tech. Sgt. Cory Reeves, who last year was demoted from master sergeant and then booted from the Air Force because of his ties to a white nationalist group, reported Air Force Times.

But as units look to root out potential threats to the force or those who might use their military experience to support extremist causes, there’s still no easy way for the Department of the Air Force to track people suspected of having those ties.

“There is not a simple number to track because of the many ways commanders can address this type of behavior in their ranks, especially if it doesn’t rise to the level of criminal conduct,” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Feb. 16.

The Pentagon is considering how it might combine various metrics to get a better picture of extremism in the force, she added.

Troops are allowed to exercise their First Amendment rights to peaceful protest and freedom of speech, but are subject to discipline if they participate in demonstrations while on duty, in uniform, or in a foreign country “when their activities constitute a breach of law and order or when violence is likely to result,” Singleton said.

“There has been an increase in concerning behavior, which are consistent with societal increases,” she said. “Unfortunately, the issue of extremism in the military is not new. … It is unacceptable for service members who take an oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution to be engaged in actions that are in direct conflict of this commitment.”

US Threatens Retaliation After Erbil Rocket Attack Kills 1, Injures 9

Feb. 16, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

U.S. officials are threatening a military response after a Feb. 15 rocket attack on a base housing Americans in Iraqi Kurdistan killed one person and injured nine others.

Late Feb. 15, about 14 107mm rockets were fired near Erbil, with three impacting the air base, according to Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve. The rockets killed one non-American contractor and injured nine—eight civilian contractors and one U.S. service member. It’s not clear if any of the wounded civilians are American.

The base in the city of Erbil is one of the largest remaining U.S. outposts inside Iraq and a launching point for operations against the Islamic State group. In January 2020, Iranian ballistic missiles impacted the base, though the bulk of that attack targeted Al-Asad Air Base further south. Still, hundreds of personnel from both bases were later diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries from the attacks.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has launched an investigation into the most recent attack.

“We are outraged by today’s rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter. “I have reached out to Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to discuss the incident and to pledge our support for all efforts to investigate and hold accountable those responsible.”

In a call with Iraqi Minister of Defense Jumaah Saadoon, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III condemned the attack, “and expressed condolences to the Iraqi people.”

“The Iraqi people deserve a secure and stable Iraq, and the United States remains committed to supporting our Iraqi partners in their efforts to defend Iraq’s sovereignty. Both leaders reaffirmed commitment to the strategic partnership between the United States and Iraq.”

In a Feb. 16 briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also denounced the attack. “As always, the President of the United States and the administration reserves the right to respond in the time and the manner of our choosing, but we’ll wait for the attribution to be concluded first before we take any additional steps.”

A Shia militia group calling itself Awliyaa al-Dam, or Guardians of Blood, claimed responsibility, Al-Jazeera reported.

The incident mimics similar rocket attacks perpetrated by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq recently. This includes a March 2020 rocket attack on Camp Taji, which killed two Americans and one coalition service member and injured another 12. Shortly following the attack, U.S. forces launched retaliatory airstrikes on Kataib Hezbollah weapons storage facilities.

The same group in December 2019 launched a 107mm rocket attack on another U.S. location in Iraq, killing an American contractor. This incident was the catalyst for the U.S. drone strike the following month at Baghdad International Airport that killed Iranian Quds Force Leader Qassem Soleimani, which in turn prompted the Iranian ballistic missile strike that injured more than 100 American service members.

The Defense Department Office of Inspector General launched a review of U.S. Central Command’s ability to protect assets from missile and drone attacks following the January 2020 ballistic missile attack on Erbil and Al-Asad, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the IG to call off its analysis.

DODIG: Pandemic Made CENTCOM Base Security Investigation Impossible

Feb. 16, 2021 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The Defense Department Office of Inspector General is ending its analysis of U.S. Central Command’s ability to protect key assets in its area of operations from missiles and drones due to COVID-19-related travel rules, it announced in a partially redacted memo published Feb. 11.

“On March 12, 2020, the Secretary of Defense issued travel restrictions to OCONUS, affecting our anticipated evaluation scope and methodology,” wrote Andre M. Brown, acting assistant inspector general for evaluations programs, combatant commands, and overseas contingency operations, in the memo.

The DODIG suspended its evaluation on March 17, 2020, in hopes of picking it back up once the military resumed “normal operations,” Brown wrote However, the pandemic’s persistence impedes the DODIG’s “ability to perform the project efficiently due to security classification concerns.”

The DODIG announced the investigation last February, a little more than a month after Iran mounted a missile attack against Al-Asad and Erbil Air Bases in Iraq.

The Space Force—using the Space-Based Infared System—detected the Iranian missile launch relatively early and notified U.S. personnel accordingly, a feat that presumably prevented loss of life, though over 100 troops sustained traumatic brain injuries during the attack.

The DODIG’s base security deep dive is ending as the Air Force Office of Inspector General embarks on an investigation into security at USAF and USSF installations worldwide.

Department of the Air Force leaders ordered the review following a Feb. 4 breach at Joint Base Andrews, Md., in which a man made his way onto a C-40B aircraft, but did no harm to the plane or base personnel.

Air Force Warfare Center Leadership Moves Among Dozens Announced

Feb. 12, 2021 | By Rachel S. Cohen

More than three dozen Air Force officials are headed to new postings at the Pentagon and around the world, the Defense Department announced Feb. 12.

At the highest level, Maj. Gen. Charles S. Corcoran will leave his job as head of the Air Force Warfare Center in Nevada to serve as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations at USAF headquarters in the Pentagon. He’ll be replaced by Maj. Gen. Case A. Cunningham, Air Combat Command’s plans, programs, and requirements director and a former MQ-9 Reaper wing commander.

Brig. Gen. (select) Steven G. Behmer is moving into the job of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter integration director at the Pentagon. He now commands the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

Others are taking new jobs at assorted operational wings and major commands worldwide. Numbered Air Forces are seeing a shakeup as well: Maj. Gen. Michael G. Koscheski will become commander of 15th Air Force at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., which was created last year from a merger of the combat assets in 9th and 12th Air Forces. Koscheski is currently deputy commander of Air Forces Central Command.

DOD did not say where Maj. Gen. Chad P. Franks, the group’s current boss, is going.

Read the full list of 38 job changes here.

Members Named to Panel Scrubbing Confederate Icons from DOD

Feb. 12, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Defense Department and congressional leaders on Feb. 12 announced eight appointees to the bipartisan commission tasked with renaming military bases that bear the monikers of Confederate leaders.

Congress, in the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, called on the Pentagon to begin the process of removing homages to Confederate leaders, like Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Hood, Texas. Lawmakers created the panel despite a disagreement on the issue with former President Donald J. Trump that threatened to derail the legislation altogether.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III’s picks for the commission are retired Adm. Michelle Howard, the Navy’s first Black and female admiral; former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert B. Neller; Kori Schake, the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute; and retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, an emeritus professor of history at the U.S. Military Academy.

“Each of these individuals possesses unique and relevant experience, in and out of government, that I know will inform this important effort,” Austin said. “I am enormously grateful for their willingness to serve the nation again, and I thank them in advance for the wise counsel I am confident they will provide.”

Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees also announced their appointees. SASC Chairman Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) chose retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, a former Army Chief of Engineers and the first Black graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to serve in that role. SASC Ranking Member Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) picked Jerry Buchanan, a former drill sergeant and investment business owner.

HASC Chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) selected Lonnie G. Bunch III, the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian and former director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. HASC Ranking Member Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) picked Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), whose district includes Moody and Robins Air Force Bases.

The commission is tasked with developing a plan to rename DOD resources in conversation with local communities. That blueprint is required by October 2022, to implement the changes by Jan. 1, 2024.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Feb. 12 that while the committee will focus on renaming bases that bear the names of Confederate generals, it goes beyond that to include monuments, symbols, displays, and other items that commemorate the Confederacy.

“It’s bigger than just bases,” he said.

DOD Now Deploying 4,700 Troops for National Vaccination Drive

Feb. 12, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Pentagon is readying around 4,700 Active-duty forces to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency at coronavirus vaccination sites nationwide, expanding the military’s role in pandemic-response efforts.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III is directing more than a four-fold increase in the number of troops headed to help vaccinate the general public, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Feb. 12. The original plan involved five 222-person teams, but is now spiking to 25 total teams that will deploy in the near future.

Of the 20 additional teams, half will be groups of around 220 people sent to inoculation megasites. The other half include 139-person teams who will go to smaller shot distribution sites across the country.

FEMA is selecting where to allocate troops for those deployments, Kirby said. For example, one larger group of medical personnel like registered nurses from Fort Carson, Colo., is deploying to a megasite in California.

The Pentagon expects more details on the Active-duty groups will be available next week.

The Pentagon is still assembling its support teams, and the department wants to ensure “we are properly poised and ready to support those sites” as soon as FEMA is ready, Kirby said. Groups are preparing to leave on a rolling basis to be flexible, he added.

This batch of 4,700 personnel are assisting on top of around 26,000 National Guardsmen and 3,000 Active-duty troops already assigned to the COVID-19 response across the country, Kirby said.

Americans and Israelis Team Up for Missile Defense Practice

Feb. 12, 2021 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

American and Israeli troops are practicing ballistic missile defense and collaborative crisis response in this year’s iteration of the Juniper Falcon exercise.

“Juniper Falcon 21 is a demonstration of our strong commitment and long-standing military relationship with Israel,” Lt. Gen. Steven Basham, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa deputy commander and Joint Task Force-Israel commander, said in a release. “Built over years of cooperation, our deliberate and strategic partnership allows us to continually develop the interoperability necessary to maintain and enhance Israel’s defensive capacity.”

During this year’s largely virtual version of the annual, bilateral exercise—which offers the Israel Defense Forces another chance to work on homeland defense—troops are responding to computer-simulated scenarios, U.S. European Command told Air Force Magazine on Feb. 10.

“While the exercise is informed by overall dynamics in the Middle East, it is not in response to any recent developments or specific real-world events in the region,” the command added.

Approximately 300 Defense Department representatives—including American Airmen, other U.S. troops, and civilian employees—are participating with an undisclosed number of IDF personnel in the two-week exercise that kicked off Jan. 31. Service members are participating from around Europe, Israel, and the United States, EUCOM said.

“The exercise will be conducted from various locations in Germany, Israel and the U.S.,” the command said. EUCOM will also “have some forces participating or acting as response cells from their home stations in Europe.”

Israel’s recent redesignation to fall under U.S. Central Command’s responsibility for collaboration won’t impact this year’s version of Juniper Falcon. CENTCOM could make changes to bilateral training in the future as needed, however.

“Any time there are changes to the command structure, there are processes and collaboration that need to occur,” the command wrote. “Any handover will be done in a deliberate, thoughtful, and careful manner to ensure no interruption of our security relationship with Israel.”

30 Years After Desert Storm: Feb. 16

Feb. 12, 2021

In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

Feb. 16: Two Scud missiles hit southern Israel.

Check out our complete chronology of the Gulf War, starting with Iraq’s July 1990 invasion of Kuwait and running through Iraq’s April 1991 acceptance of peace terms.