The US Air Force has conducted nearly three-quarters of the strikes conducted in Iraq and Syria and roughly half of the strikes in Syria so far, said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and requirements on the Air Staff. USAF aircraft also have conducted 70 percent of the more than 3,800 sorties flown in the two countries; 95 percent of the nearly 1,300 tanker sorties, and more than 700 ISR sorties supporting the operation, Harrigian told reporters on Sept. 29. “We are part of an integrated coalition effort, and this broad coalition has been and will continue to be the cornerstone of the strategy against ISIL,” said Harrigian. “From an airman’s perspective, we have worked for years to develop relationships across the theater with our fellow airmen, much like our sister services have done. Training with them both in theater and in the states to allow us the flexibility to seamlessly integrate them into the operations that we’ve been executing.”
House and Senate lawmakers say they’re hopeful Congress will pass a defense appropriations bill in the coming weeks to avoid a repeat of last fall’s government shutdown, with only having a handful of working days remaining before the Jan. 30 deadline. Yet legislations still have to release a compromise version of defense spending legislation, which will have to…
