The Air Force has hired former USA Today reporter Dave Moniz as part of a revamping of its internal and external communications function. Moniz is serving as a senior public affairs adviser, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Air Force subsumed public affairs, readers may recall, under a new communications department, being led by Brig. Gen. Erwin F. Lessel III, a command pilot who was last heading plans and programs for Air Force Materiel Command, but who also served on the PR front lines as multi-national force spokesman in Iraq.
The U.S. military is sending more fighter jets to the Middle East to step up its war with Iran, adding to what is already the largest buildup of airpower in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For now, the operation shows little sign of coming to a quick…