Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz, commander of US Transportation Command, told coalition forces at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, last week that the kind of fight going on in Operation Enduring Freedom “cannot be effectively prosecuted from main operating bases.” Schwartz explained that such a “distributed fight” requires airlift, noting that it’s being provided from bases in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey, as well as Europe and the US. Whether the cargo is troops, food, water, ammunition, or medical evacuees, said Schwartz, “My impression is that the team is effectively supporting the folks that need it—the shooters.”
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.
