Senior Iraqi air force leaders toured Joint Base Balad to acquire a better understanding of the base layout, runways, facilities, and fighter aircraft operations. This is part of their preparations to retake control of the base when the US military moves out of the country later this year. “This facility will be theirs in a few months and we want to talk about how we are going to hand it over to them and what condition [the base] is in, so we can better understand and plan together as a team on how they can have an effective air base as soon as we leave,” said Brig. Gen. Anthony Rock, director of the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission-Air. If the Iraqi government goes forward with the planned purchase of F-16 fighters, they would likely call Balad home, said Rock. (Balad report by SrA. Tong Duong)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…