The Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps recently concluded Joint Forcible Entry Exercise 06-03, dropping an estimated 2,700 82nd Airborne paratroopers and loads of equipment into a simulated war zone at the Ft. Bragg Military Reservation in North Carolina. Formerly known as Large Package Week, the exercise has evolved into a more advanced training concept that includes ground tactical plans and airfield seizure, involving a wide range of DOD assets. The Air Force provided the airlifters—C-17s and C-130s—and A-10 attack aircraft and the Marine Corps brought in F-18s. USAF’s 43rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at nearby Pope AFB, N.C., led an air-land mission, setting up a triage and simulating patient aeromedevac.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
