The word on the ground at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday is that Gen. Philip Breedlove, US Air Forces in Europe commander, is emerging as a leading candidate to become President Obama’s new nominee to be the next NATO supreme allied commander for Europe and also head US European Command. The President’s need for a new nominee came about on Feb. 19 after Marine Corps Gen. John Allen announced that he would retire from the military and step away from his nomination to take on those leadership posts. Stay tuned for more on this topic.
The U.S. conducted a drone strike in Iraq on Dec. 3, as the American troops there continue to be targeted by Iranian-backed militants. The strike took place near Kirkuk as the militants were preparing to attack U.S. troops in northern Iraq, a U.S. official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.…