On the other hand, there are those that believe the current Air Force rotation process works very smoothly. (See above.) Maj. Gen. Maury Forsyth, the No. 2 airman at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center in Southwest Asia, says, “I believe we have once again validated the AEF concept, … in that there was no degradation at all in our capabilities here” as AEFs 9 and 10 replaced AEFs 7 and 8. Forsyth credited the enthusiasm and training of the airmen for making the transition smooth—and the fact that many airmen were on repeat tours. In a US Central Command Air Forces release, Forsyth touches on the “other” Air Force elements supporting SWA operations, including electronic warfare. “Because of its classification, we don’t talk much about it, but there’s a whole group of people out there flying airplanes that are helping us in the electromagnetic spectrum.”
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…