US Central Command Air Forces said that, on Dec. 22, its aircraft flew 22 close air support missions in support of Coalition ground forces in Iraq. USAF F-15s flew CAS missions near Samarra, attacking an enemy bunker with a PGM. F-16 Fighting Falcons provided close air support to coalition troops in contact with anti-Iraqi forces near Balad, while other F-16s provided CAS to troops in contact near Bayji, Kirkuk, and Tikrit. In Afghanistan, Air Force A-10s and RAF GR-7s provided close air support to coalition forces in contact with enemy troops near Orgun-E. Other A-10s were engaged near Asadabad.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
