The commander of US Central Command Air Forces, Lt. Gen. Gary North, said in a statement that he worries “about the health of our aging fleet,” but the continued grounding of the F-15 fleet would not diminish airpower support to operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The F-15E Strike Eagles in the theater are on ground alert. North said he expects the accident “investigation to get to the cause of the accident.” Unnamed officials have speculated that the F-15C that crashed last week came apart in flight.
Unit commanders are being told to separate service members who can’t shave their cheeks and chin for medical reasons for more than a year, according to new guidance from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
