Gen. Roger Brady, commander of US Air Forces in Europe, speaking at AFA’s Air & Space Conference Tuesday, strongly rejected criticism of the combat contribution in Afghanistan by NATO and European allies. In fact, he said, as of August, more than 39,000 of the 110,000 troops in Afghanistan are from NATO and European allies. Brady also downplayed the impact of the caveats European governments put on their forces in Afghanistan, saying he likes to think of NATO and the European allies as family at Thanksgiving dinner. There will always be “a few weird relatives,” Brady explained, but at the end of the day you are family. He emphasized, “When we go to war, we go with our European allies.”
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.