In recognition of her volunteer efforts to help refurbish a long-neglected British cemetery in Habbaniyah, Iraq, USAF Capt. Jutta Cortes has been asked to march with British veterans of the Royal Air Force Habbaniyah Association Nov. 12 at The Cenotaph war memorial in London. Cortes, now deputy director of security forces for 20th Air Force at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo, served in Iraq as a military training advisor at Habbaniyah, a former RAF base.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.