NATO defense chiefs agree that providing security is only one of three necessary ingredients to secure long-term success in Afghanistan. The focus at the NATO defense chiefs meeting in Brussels was Afghanistan, with the recent shift in leadership from the US-led coalition to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, US Joint Chiefs Chairman, told American Forces Press Service, that the defense chiefs rightly focused on security, but they know the effort also requires “good governance and good economics.” He mentioned, too, that there is a change in store for staffing for the International Security Assistance Force, which until recently had changed out its entire staff with each change in commander. “This will bring continuity and predictability,” said Pace, calling it a “very positive step for ISAF.”
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.
