On Sept. 1, USAF F-16s launched one GBU-38 against anti-Iraqi forces in the vicinity of Al Qaim, Iraq, who were firing on coalition forces. In other action, F-16s and a Predator UAV provided CAS for coalition troops near Al Muqdadiyah, Baghdad, Baquba, and Mishal. While in Afghanistan, USAF A-10 Warthogs flew CAS sorties near Kandahar. On Sept. 2 and Sept. 3, in Iraq, F-16s provided CAS near Kirkuk, Mosul, Tikrit, and Tall Afar and Tuz Khurmata, respectively. On Saturday, F-16s, using two GBU-12s, successfully took out an insurgent location in Tall Afar. On Sept. 4, in a planned strike against anti-Iraqi forces staging area near Balad, Iraq, F-16s launched two GBU-38s. Nearby, a Predator shot off two Hellfire missiles against a mortar position. On the same day, in Afghanistan, A-10s, flying CAS sorties with an RAF GR-7, fired four rockets, one GBU-12, and 399 30mm cannon rounds against anti-coalition militia near Kandahar.
The Air Force’s Experimental Operations Unit hosted a change of command ceremony recently, another sign of how the CCA concept is maturing and becoming entrenched in the Air Force’s structure, to the point where exercises have generated multiple sorties in a single day to simulate high-tempo combat operations.