Gen. Tom Hobbins hasn’t been on the job as commander of US Air Forces in Europe long, but he is confident in the direction of the command, reports Air Force journalist MSgt. Chuck Roberts. Hobbins served as USAFE’s director of operations in 1999 during Operation Allied Force, but he is out and about, talking with current USAFE airmen to assess the operation. “I’m really here to listen at first and try to understand what it is that people are doing and what it is they would see us do to make the team better,” Hobbins said. One big change is the shift of USAFE from a primarily fighter-based command to one that includes a hefty mobility mission.
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.