Gen. 
William Fraser, US Transportation Command boss, last week unveiled “Our Story 2013-2017,” the command’s new five-year strategy. The document, released on Oct. 12, lays out how TRANSCOM intends to improve its responsiveness to US forces as they withdraw from Afghanistan and meet future challenges, according to a command release. “Despite a changing operating landscape and financial constraints, we’re still going to be responsible for projecting and sustaining our nation’s influence globally,” said Fraser. He added, “We’re proactively positioning ourselves to best fulfill the needs of the [Defense Department] when it comes to troop support, humanitarian response, and surge requirements for global mobility in the future.” TRANSCOM officials said they spent some 10 months drafting the new strategy, calling it the most comprehensive and collaborative strategic planning effort in the command’s 25-year history. “The end result of our efforts will be a command that can still get service members to the fight, sustain them, enable the warfighting effort, and then bring everyone home again,” said Brig. Gen. John Michel, who led the efforts to define the strategy. (Includes Scott report by Christine Pesout) (Our Story 2013-2017 full text; caution, large-sized file.)
The U.S. military is sending more fighter jets to the Middle East to step up its war with Iran, adding to what is already the largest buildup of airpower in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For now, the operation shows little sign of coming to a quick…