Is It Just Speculation?: News media earlier this year reported that nameless US Air Force officials had acknowledged that, once US ground troops leave, USAF would remain to provide not only strike airpower but also the battlefield airmen to guide the strike aircraft as Iraqi forces battle insurgents. A new report by the Associated Press calls such thinking into question. Apparently several senior Air Force officers in Southwest Asia at this time are only confirming that the idea is under discussion.
The Senate Armed Services Committee this week released the full text of its version of the 2026 defense policy bill—often referred to as the National Defense Authorization Act—that would allow the Air Force and Space Force to spend billions of dollars more than the services had sought for next year.