Air Education and Training Command boss Gen. William Looney said that AETC has managed to sort out a lot of the confusion surrounding an uptick in the number of airmen filling in-lieu-of requests for ground forces. Looney said: “Now, every person that is tasked, we know who they are. We didn’t always know where our people were.” AETC also has worked out a lot of the equipment issues and confusion over differences in service jargon for tactics and procedures. Looney said, too, that the Air Force is able to assimilate most airmen more quickly—within about two weeks—after they rejoin their unit. Still, Air Force officials earlier this year expressed concern about continued use of ILO airmen outside their primary fields.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
