Air Force Gen. Lance Smith, head of US Joint Forces Command, and Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, chief of US European Command, told the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves last week that they do not support raising the status of the chief of the National Guard Bureau to a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Congress Daily’s Megan Scully reports that Smith told the commissioners, who have been asked by Congress to study, among other things, the question of raising the rank of the NGB chief to four stars with a place on the JCS, that he believes such a move would create “another stovepipe.”
Less than a day after arriving in the Middle East, F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. defended Israel from an Iranian attack in April 2024. DUDE flight, four F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron, downed two dozen Iranian drones in roughly 45 minutes.