A brief statement from Lajes Field in the Azores attempts to end a rumor that the Air Force has frozen assignments. Apparently the Air Force Personnel Center did not, as is tradition, issue an assignments list last month covering the July, August, and September overseas cycle. MSgt. Shannon Parker of the Lajes military personnel flight says there’s been no official word about involuntary extensions. At worst, says the sergeant, assignments may be a “little later than usual.”
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.