The US military is prepared to conduct either “limited standoff strikes” or establish a no-fly zone over Syria, said Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey. They are among the military options for dealing with Syria available to the White House and Congress, wrote Dempsey in a letter dated July 19 to Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. Levin last week asked Dempsey to provide an unclassified assessment of the options. For limited strikes, requirements would dictate “hundreds of aircraft, ships, submarines, and other enablers,” to target Syrian air defenses, missile sites, and other targets, wrote Dempsey. Depending on the timeframe, the costs would be in the “billions” of dollars, and there is the possibility of collateral damage, the Syrian regime’s dispersal of assets, and retaliatory attacks on US forces, he stated. To establish a NFZ, the United States would need hundreds of aircraft ranging from strike to electronic warfare assets to carry out air superiority operations, wrote Dempsey. He estimated the costs of the NFZ as $500 million “initially” and as much as a billion dollars per month over the course of a year. Risks would entail the possible loss of US aircraft, requiring personnel recovery missions, he stated.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
