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.

Some Airmen See Tours Extended at Several Pacific, European Bases

Feb. 11, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Single Airmen and Guardians on their first duty assignments to 22 locations in the Pacific and Europe will now have to pack their bags for a longer stay—beginning next month, those tours will last three years instead of two.

The Department of the Air Force announced the policy change to a 36-month overseas posting for first-timers on Feb. 11.

Affected locations include: RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom; RAF Lakenheath, U.K.; RAF Alconbury, U.K.; RAF Croughton, U.K.; London, RAF Menwith Hill, U.K.; RAF Fairford, U.K.; RAF Welford, U.K.; RAF Molesworth, U.K.; Aviano Air Base, Italy; Stavenger Air Base, Norway; Ramstein Air Base, Germany; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Sembach, Germany; Vogelweh, Germany; Landstuhl, Germany; Kapaun, Germany; Einsiedlerhof, Germany; Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany; Kadena Air Base, Japan; Misawa Air Base, Japan; and Yokota Air Base, Japan.

Previously, troops would stay in those assignments for 24 months. But Air Force officials said two years isn’t enough time to settle in.

“During these moves, service members not only have to adjust to their new jobs, but also to a new culture and country, which takes time,” Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, said in a release. “A 24-month tour was not adequate for our new Airmen and Guardians to thrive, nor was it enough time to provide the continuity needed for the unit.”

Officials expect longer tours will help units train better and improve service members’ professional development, as well as offering more stability early on in their career, according to the release.

The change will not impact Airmen or Guardians who were retrained or otherwise shifted into a new career, or who served in the military before commissioning as officers. Service members who live with spouses and other family members will continue to see 36- or 48-month-long stints in overseas jobs, according to the Air Force.

30 Years After Desert Storm: Feb. 12-15

Feb. 11, 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. 12:

An air attack destroys three downtown Baghdad bridges—the Martyr’s Bridge, Republic Bridge, and July 14 Bridge.

Soviet envoy Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov stops in Tehran en route to Baghdad, carrying a Soviet peace plan.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein tells Primakov that Iraq would cooperate with efforts to arrange a cease-fire in the Gulf War.

Feb. 13:

F-117 fighters bomb a building in Baghdad that coalition forces believe to be a military command bunker but which is being used as civilian air-raid shelter, and 200-400 civilians are killed.

An Iraqi armored division, caught moving at night, is destroyed by air power.

Feb. 14:

An RAF Tornado is shot down by a missile over Baghdad.

Two U.S. Air Force crewmen are killed when an EF-111A is lost in Saudi Arabia after a mission over Iraq.

Back in the U.S., anti-war demonstrators splash blood and oil on a Pentagon doorway.

Feb. 15:

Hussein’s five-man Revolutionary Command Council announces that Iraq is ready “to deal” with a UN resolution requiring withdrawal from Kuwait.

U.S. officials estimate three months of war against Iraq will cost $56 billion, of which the U.S. would pay $15 billion, and other coalition members would pay $41 billion.

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.