Gen. Paul Hester, Pacific Air Forces commander, said Thursday afternoon at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., that he has not stepped up the operating tempo of forces around Korea since Pyongyang detonated a small A-bomb last fall. The Air Force has been “observant” of North Korea and has kept up its reconnaissance efforts, but Hester said he’s relieved to report that no big troop movements or mobilizations attended the nuclear test or the big salvo of ballistic missile tests at about the same time.
As the Air Force readied for its June 21-22 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the service was also putting its Agile Combat Employment strategy into action, dispersing combat aircraft and Airmen from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in preparation for a possible Iranian retaliatory attack. Some defense experts say…