US Central Command Air Forces applied intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance air assets combined with precision strike and close air support to aid coalition ground forces in Afghanistan Jan. 10, killing as many as 150 insurgents. CENTAF deputy command, Maj. Gen. William Holland called it a “perfect example” in the “flexibility and combat capability” of combined air assets. The action took place in the Paktika province, where two large groups of insurgents moving across the border from Pakistan were tracked as they launched an attack against coalition ground forces.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.