Airmen can no longer bring their families with them on deployments to Turkey. Beginning Sept. 21, Air Force assignments to Turkey are now unaccompanied, 12-month tours, according to the announcement. Two-year accompanied deployments or 15-month unaccompanied tours will no longer occur. Airmen currently serving a 15-month tour will complete their assignments without curtailment or no later than Aug. 31, 2017. Civilians will also no longer be able to deploy to the country that borders Syria for 24 months, and any such tours will automatically be changed to a 12-month tour. The changes were “made taking into account the region’s current security environment and in consultation with the State Department and Turkish government,” according to the release. Turkey has been rocked by bombings and a ?failed coup attempt in recent months. In March, the Pentagon ordered the families of military personnel assigned to southern part of the country to leave due to security fears.
Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—a trailblazer and one of the first 10 women to reach a four-star rank across the U.S. military—retired and passed control of U.S. Transportation Command to Air Force Gen. Randall Reed on Oct. 4, finishing an eventful tenure at TRANSCOM.