NATO’s military leadership is recommending the organization become a member of the US-led coalition fighting ISIS, in addition to its training mission in Iraq. NATO’s Military Committee chairman Czech Gen. Petr Pavel said during a Wednesday press conference that there is “some merit for NATO becoming a member of that coalition.” There is “general agreement” that NATO should do more in the counter ISIS fight, especially in institution and capacity building along with training, said Pavel, speaking in advance of next week’s heads of state meeting in Brussels. Iraq is a country “that is not stable” and NATO needs to push to help countries gain greater stability, Pavel said. “Within that framework we will conduct a number of activities to support all these countries including Iraq, so we can expect it will be long lasting activity, a long lasting partnership with Iraq, as well as with many other countries in the region,” he said. However, NATO’s presence would not be a mission like Resolute Support in Afghanistan, which is focused on building up the Afghan forces.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.