Two US service members were killed Wednesday after coming under attack by ISIS-Khorasan fighters in the Nangarhar Province of eastern Afghanistan. A third US service member was wounded. The service members were conducting an operation alongside Afghan National Defense and Security Forces when they came under attack, US Forces Afghanistan said in a statement. USFOR-A did not disclose the specific service of those killed. “The fight against ISIS-K is important for the world, but sadly it is not without sacrifice,” USFOR-A Commander Gen. John Nicholson said in the statement. Nangarhar Province is where US Army Special Forces SSgt. Mark De Alencar was killed while conducting counter ISIS operations. It is also the sight of the April 13 air strike when an Air Force MC-130 dropped the GBU-43 “mother of all bombs” on an ISIS tunnel network.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.