Although the Defense Department has orders from Congress to plan for a possible intervention or no-fly zone in Syria, NATO is not working on any mirror effort, Lt. Gen. Ralph Jodice, Allied Air Component Command chief in Izmir, Turkey, told the Daily Report on Tuesday. “If the US is planning, it’s doing stuff on its own,” said Jodice, explaining that there’s been no directive from the North Atlantic Council to outline a similar action. “Has there been prudent operational thinking going on? Yes,” said Jodice, who was in Arlington, Va., on Feb. 12 to speak at an AFA-Air Force Breakfast Program event. “But there’s no formal planning at this point,” he added. Jodice also noted that his organization is folding up shop as NATO consolidates its air headquarters functions at Ramstein AB, Germany, under a cost-cutting initiative. The June 1 closure at Izmir will mean an increase from 350 to 500 NATO air staff at Ramstein, said Jodice, who is retiring, effective July 1.
The Air Force is shoring up its cyber defenses both on and off base for critical infrastructure such as water and electrical power, and industry experts are calling for more, even specialized, dedicated microgrids offsite to support USAF operations in case of a total blackout caused by cyberattacks.
