The US-led coalition has hit ISIS’s leadership in Mosul hard in the run up to the Iraqi-led offensive, taking out more than 35 commanders in the last 90 days. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking Tuesday at a meeting of the Counter-ISIL Small Group Ministerial meeting in Paris, said the “coalition is providing a range of capabilities to enable the Iraqis to continue to shrink ISIL’s brutal control over Iraqi territory.” The coalition’s efforts to target high ISIL leadership has led to results that have “encouraged” the ministers. “In fact, you might say the most dangerous job in Iraq right now is to be the military emir of Mosul,” Carter said. Still, there will be a tough fight ahead as US-backed Iraqi and Peshmerga troops approach the city. (See also: Iraqi Approach to Mosul Moving Faster Than Expected and The Drumbeat Toward Mosul.)
The Air Force is placing Air Combat Command in charge of teaching combat tactics to fighter and remotely-piloted aircraft units, according to a May 12 announcement. Beginning this summer, the service will reassign the formal training units for the F-35, F-16, and MQ-9 from Air Education and Training Command to…