Airmen exercised with their counterparts in the Dominican Republic air force in combatting illegal drug trafficking in the Caribbean. The early December training on the island nation included Dominican A-29 light attack aircraft, according to a Dec. 5 Air Force release. The airplanes operated from San Isidro Air Base, which is east of Santo Domingo. This exchange is part of the Sovereign Skies Program, an initiative between the United States, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic to share best practices on procedures to detect, track, and intercept illegal drugs moving north from South America. Since the program’s inception, the number of aircraft and sea vessels suspected of trafficking drugs through the Dominican Republic has dropped from more than 100 a year to nearly zero, states the release. (San Isidro report by Capt. Justin Brockhoff) (See also second Brockhoff report.)
President Donald Trump projected confidence Nov. 19 that a proposed sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia will sail through the Foreign Military Sales process, an early test of the Pentagon’s acquisition reforms. The deal is also likely to face scrutiny from ally Israel over how it could affect the balance…
