“Normally we guard aircraft and airfields. Now, we’re staring at people who could be responsible for killing Americans.” So said TSgt. Jeff Tynan, of 587th Security Forces Squadron, deployed to Camp Bucca, Iraq. There, airmen make up most of the force protection element, filling a role traditionally handled by the Army. These days, USAF’s troops are providing perimeter defense, convoy and area security, and security for Bucca’s theater internment facility. The 586th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron has been working alongside soldiers in dangerous assignments, such as convoy escorts for election officials. The troops seem to be taking the job in stride.
The U.S. Air Force recently took a significant step in its push to integrate crewed fighters with semi-autonomous drones, the service says. Pilots of an Air Force F-16C and an F-15E controlled two XQ-58A Valkyrie drones in an “air combat training scenario,” the Air Force Research Laboratory said in a July…