Starting today, the Air Force is realigning its headquarters staff into what it terms the “A-staff” construct to more easily communicate with sister services and the joint staff. Brig. Gen. Marshall Sabol, USAF’s director of manpower and organization, told reporters at the Pentagon on Jan. 31, that USAF functions will mirror the numerical organization of the Joint staff, that is J1 for manpower and personnel, J2 for intelligence, J3 for operations. Only the Air Force will replace the “J” with an “A.” Air Force major commands and warfighting headquarters will implement the new structure by May 1.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.