U.S. forces will reportedly hand over control of Bagram Airfield, the major headquarters of American air operations in Afghanistan, to Afghan forces within about three weeks. Agence-France Presse reported June 1 that the U.S. military will hand the base over to the Afghan government in ...
The military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan is speeding up, with five facilities now handed over to the Afghan government and about 115 C-17 loads of material flown out of the country. U.S. Central Command reported May 18 that more than 5,000 pieces of material also have ...
U.S. C-17s have now flown 104 loads of materiel out of Afghanistan as the retrograde continues, and U.S. Central Command plans to destroy more than 1,800 pieces of equipment. Between six and 12 percent of the entire retrograde process is complete, CENTCOM said in a ...
The U.S. military is looking at new ways to train Afghan forces and for contractors to continue to work on Afghan Air Force aircraft following the full withdrawal of American troops this year. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, ...
Two more B-52s arrived at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, on May 4, bringing the total number of Stratofortresses deployed to the region to six as the U.S. continues its withdrawal from Afghanistan. The bombers, from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, ...
The retrograde from Afghanistan is underway, with U.S. Air Force C-17s carrying equipment and other materiel out of the country. U.S. Central Command in a May 4 statement said about 60 C-17 loads have moved out of the country since President Joe Biden on April ...
U.S. aircraft will continue to provide support for Afghan forces through the withdrawal process beginning May 1. The Pentagon’s No. 2 official said she is confident that modernized technology and processes mean “over-the-horizon” support from outside the country will be effective. “It’s not 2001—it’s 2021,” ...
The need to prepare for great power competition means Air Force Special Operations Command is at a historic “inflection point” akin to transformations following the failed 1980 hostage rescue in Iran and four counter-terrorism operations after 9/11. “The rise of belligerent peers and near-peers who ...
The military’s top uniformed officer said April 28 that it’s difficult to predict what will play out as Afghan forces prepare to have sole responsibility for the country’s security. “It’s not a foregone conclusion that there’ll be an automatic fall of Kabul, so to speak,” ...
The State Department on April 27 ordered some of its diplomatic staff to leave the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as the drawdown in Afghanistan begins and the U.S. continues planning for what future force protection in the country will look like. In a new travel ...
The Pentagon will reportedly send hundreds of troops and dedicated close air support aircraft to Afghanistan to protect U.S. forces during the withdrawal, as two more B-52s arrived in the region. The two B-52s from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., touched down at Al-Udied Air ...
Two B-52s arrived in the Middle East on April 23 as part of an increase in airpower to protect U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan as part of the withdrawal in the country. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III approved the deployment of the bombers ...