Members of the 407th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron on a routine base-defense patrol outside Ali Base, Iraq, spied insurgents trying to set timers on rockets aimed at the base. The insurgents evidently spotted the security team and skedaddled without finishing the job. Even so, the airmen called in munitions specialists with the 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron to destroy the rockets in place.
The Pentagon is requesting funds to buy 85 F-35s in its 2027 budget, 38 of them for the Air Force, a number that analysts say is not enough to reverse service’s fighter shortfall.