The Air Force has taken over weapons intelligence duties for Army and Marine Corps ground forces in Iraq. USAF has created a weapons intelligence flight within the 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron at Balad AB, Iraq, to provide teams for counter-improvised explosive device collection and exploitation, performing work once done by an Army military intelligence battalion. Airmen for the new task have come from intelligence, explosive ordnance disposal, OSI, and security forces fields, and all received specialized training before deploying, according to Air Force officials.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III rebuffed criticism that the F-35 program has proved too costly and unreliable to serve as the viable backbone of America’s and allies' future fighter fleet on April 30. “I would not categorize the F-35 as a paperweight,” Austin said in response to questioning…