Air Force and Army intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance experts gathered at McChord AFB, Wash., in December, according to a Feb. 13 Air Combat Command release, to pursue cooperative ISR training initiatives. Over two days, one thing the soldiers and airmen concluded they can do more to share needs and capabilities, starting in technical schools and continuing through pre-deployment training. Already, the services are exchanging instructors at service intelligence schools, and the Air Force sends intel liaison officers to help deployed Army units reap the full advantage of Air Force ISR assets. An earlier ISR meeting led to a new mobile training course, called ISR TopOff, in which Air Force and joint instructors teach deploying soldiers about the ISR capabilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. The course “has turned out to be the most requested pre-deployment training course in the [Army Force Generation] training cycle,” said Arta Cavazos, ACC Directorate of Intelligence ISR integration analyst. (ACC report by SSgt. Travis Edwards)
Pakistan's kill chain of Chinese-origin weapons was likely a bigger factor in shooting down an Indian fighter than the jets' relative strengths, an expert said.