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ir Force and coalition counterparts in Southwest Asia routinely meet to discuss weapons and tactics—at an operational level. “This is our chance to ask ourselves if we’re doing what we need to do to achieve the desired effects and decide what we can do to improve upon our tactics and our processes,” says Col. William Mullins, 379th Expeditionary Operations Group commander. The most recent four-day session covered, as one of its topics, how to integrate the RC-135 Rivet Joint with non-traditional intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance platforms—fighters and bombers, reports Capt. Teresa Sullivan. The result was development of a process for the Rivet Joint to continue its electronic snooping role and working with strike aircraft to support ground forces. Mullins notes, “We’re seeing results, and it’s all good.”
A map pinned to the wall in a basement 36 years ago will go on display in November at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. The map, used to identify strategic targets across Iraq in the fall of 1990, was used in the planning of Operation Desert Storm, and…