In the Four-Star Forum Wednesday afternoon at AFA’s Air & Space Conference, as the assembled generals were talking about what they’ve had to do to make ends meet—while refusing to cut combat readiness accounts—Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz offered a reminder: “People are dying; as long as people are dying, we’ll do what’s necessary, and we’ll do it well.”
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.