The Air Force has awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross to A-10 pilot Maj. Keith Wolak, who participated in the 2005 combat-search-and-rescue effort to retrieve a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan, reports the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. Wolak, who currently serves as assistant director of operations with the 74th Fighter Squadron at Pope AFB, N.C., was part of a joint CSAR task force. His initial role was to coordinate the 17 participating aircraft, but he had to join in attacks on the Taliban forces closing in on the SEAL team and put down the infrared marking for the rescue helicopter.
The U.S. and Sweden signed a bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement on Dec. 5 that will strengthen military ties between them and likely lead to U.S. troops and prepositioned gear on Swedish soil. Swedish Defense minister Pal Jonson said the war in Ukraine prompted Sweden's joining NATO and he laid out…