After delaying the naming of the operation, the Defense Department announced Friday that service members deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve are eligible for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Jessica Wright signed the memorandum authorizing the award, states an Oct. 31 release. Service members deployed to the Middle East as part of the anti-ISIS operation are now eligible for the medal, which is retroactive to June 15. Locations include land, airspace, and territorial waters of Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the Mediterranean Sea east of 25 degrees longitude, the Arabian Gulf, and the Red Sea. Each service will prescribe appropriate regulations for award and wear of the medal and ribbon for their respective members, DOD announced. Full eligibility criteria and information can be found here.
A new Air Force plan for how many fighters it needs in the next decade marks a sharp upturn from what it thought it needed just seven years ago. But analysts worry that the aspirational plan now in Congress' hands doesn’t make a tight enough connection to national strategy.
