Getting It There Is Only Half the Battle: At the Bright Star exercise in Egypt, US Transportation Command rolled out a new task force capability that they say should improve the initial flow of forces and cargo within a theater of operations. The Joint Task Force-Port Opening—a combination of Air Force, Army, and Navy assets—sets up an initial theater distribution pipeline—getting supplies and equipment moved off the airfield or out of the port and into the hands of combatants. Once more traditional logistics forces arrive in theater, the JTF-PO transfers the work to them. TRANSCOM can deploy a JTF-PO within hours.
Less than a day after arriving in the Middle East, F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. defended Israel from an Iranian attack in April 2024. DUDE flight, four F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron, downed two dozen Iranian drones in roughly 45 minutes.