The Taliban controls approximately half of all district centers in Afghanistan, but the Afghan military is consolidating its forces to protect population centers and the “endgame” is not yet written, the U.S. military’s top general said July 21. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ...
The White House on July 14 announced Operation Allies Refuge, an effort to fly interpreters who helped the U.S. military in Afghanistan out of the country. The operation is beginning as the Taliban makes major gains in the country now that the U.S. has withdrawn ...
The crew of an AC-130J on June 22 received Distinguished Flying Crosses and Air Medals for protecting helicopters evacuating wounded American and Afghan forces during a September 2019 fight in Afghanistan. The Ghostrider, callsign Shadow 71, provided about two hours of constant close air support ...
Dozens of Airmen and four KC-135s from the 914th Air Refueling Wing returned home to Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, N.Y., this month from the wing’s first combat deployment with the tankers. The wing switched from flying C-130s to KC-135s beginning in 2017, became fully ...
Iraqi forces have shown their ability to maintain security, enabling the U.S. drawdown in the country despite increased attacks from Iranian proxies and an Islamic State group focused on rebuilding its caliphate, the head of U.S. forces in the region said Nov. 19. “The progress ...
The Pentagon is reportedly preparing to further withdraw forces from Afghanistan and Iraq by mid-January, despite warnings from the former Defense Secretary and an independent watchdog that violence remains high. CNN first reported Nov. 16 that the Pentagon has issued a “warning order” to begin ...
Master Sgt. John Grimesey, the flight chief of the 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope Field, N.C., on Aug. 14 received the military's Silver Star medal for his actions during a 2013 firefight in Afghanistan. He saved the life of one Soldier and killed more ...
Despite a framework for peace in one theater and declarations of upcoming troop withdrawals in another, the head of U.S. Central Command said June 10 that there’s no finish line or concrete withdrawal in sight in either Afghanistan or Syria. CENTCOM boss Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, ...
The Pentagon is proceeding with its planned drawdown to 8,600 troops in Afghanistan by July, but the situation will be “reassessed” with possible additional deployments if the Taliban does not stop attacking Afghan forces, a nominee to help lead Defense Department policy told lawmakers May ...
For the first time since the early days of the war in Afghanistan, Air Forces Central Command is not providing a regular update on the number of airstrikes in that theater, or from ongoing operations in Iraq and Syria. AFCENT, in a statement, said it ...
The Afghan Air Force lost 12 aircraft in the first quarter of 2020, an 8 percent drop of its flying fleet. The service also decreased its flying hours by a quarter, according to a new watchdog report. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction states ...
U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan continued at a steady rate in February, despite progress toward a peace deal with the Taliban, as counter-terror operations targeted the Islamic State group’s Khorasan offshoot and al-Qaeda. In February, U.S. manned and unmanned aircraft dropped 360 weapons—the lowest monthly total ...