The U.S. combat mission in Iraq will end by the end of the year, though U.S. forces will continue to help Iraqi forces in the fight against the Islamic State group, President Joe Biden announced July 26. Biden, appearing alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ...
The commander of a New Mexic-based RED HORSE squadron died June 26 in a non-combat related incident at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, the Pentagon announced. Lt. Col. James C. Willis, 55, of Albuquerque, N.M., died during a deployment to support Operation Inherent Resolve. He ...
Iranian-backed militias have focused attacks on key bases in Iraq, prompting U.S. contractors to leave the Iraqi Air Force’s major F-16 base as the country’s Fighting Falcons are working to increase their capacity to train and conduct airstrikes, according to a new report. The militias ...
The proliferation of small unmanned aerial systems, usually commercially available drones that can be outfitted to drop weapons, is the most “persistent and dangerous” threat to troops in the Middle East in decades. “These small- and medium-sized UAS proliferating across the [area of operations] present ...
Acting Air Force Secretary John P. Roth announced a host of new general officer assignments on Aug. 6, including new commanders for Second and Eighth Air Forces.
Extensive coalition and Iraqi operations targeting the Islamic State group in northern Iraq continued, with aircraft now conducting at least 312 airstrikes on ISIS remnants in the remote mountainous region. U.S.-led coalition aircraft and Iraqi forces conducted the airstrikes as part of Operation Ready Lion ...
About 10 rockets struck Al-Asad Air Base, Iraq, on the morning of March 3, just over a year after Iranian ballistic missiles ravaged the installation and left more than a hundred U.S. troops with traumatic brain injuries, the Pentagon confirmed. An American contractor suffered “a ...
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. About 14 107mm rockets were fired near Erbil late on Feb. 15, with three impacting the air ...
The air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria continues, as the U.S. withdraws forces from the region and the operation has largely fallen off the public’s radar. Throughout November 2020, the coalition conducted 14 airstrikes consisting of 34 total engagements in ...
As the coalition's footprint in Iraq and Syria “diminishes,” international support for institutional changes, such as building a local judiciary and a military that can sustain itself, is necessary to ensure the Islamic State group does not return, the No. 2 commander of Combined Joint ...
Air Force F-35As from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, have patrolled the skies of the Middle East continuously for the past 16 months. During the 34th Fighter Squadron's eight-month deployment, the squadron tested new tactics for the fifth-generation F-35A that will lay the groundwork for ...
The U.S. will hand over control of bases in Iraq and is likely to reduce its overall troop level within the country as progress against the remnants of the Islamic State group continues, a senior official with the American-led coalition said. USAF Maj. Gen. Kenneth ...