Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said Wednesday that he is reserving the right to shut down the USAF-operated Manas Air Base if the US does not renegotiate the contract on the facility’s use. According to Reuters news service, Bakiyev expects a satisfactory end to rent negotiations by June 1. Just last fall, Bakiyev told US officials that the US military could continue to use the base until the situation in Afghanistan stabilized. At the same time, he said the rent would go up.
The Air Force is still working out the kinks of its new operational concepts, Col. Ernesto M. DiVittorio, commander of the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, said during an AFA Warfighters in Action event Dec. 7. The virtual discussion focused on two of the Air…