Air Force One-Star to Lead Pakistan Border Probe
November 29th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Markeshia Ricks
Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark of Air Force Special Operations Command has been tapped to get to the bottom of a NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on Nov. 26.
Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, appointed the rated command pilot as the investigating officer who will lead the probe and deliver a report by Dec. 23, according to the Pentagon.
Clark has been in the Air Force for about 25 years and previously served as the commander for the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, according to his service biography. He is currently serving at AFSOC headquarters at Hurlburt Field, Fla.
Clark will be responsible for determining which U.S., NATO International Security Assistance Forces, Afghan and Pakistan units were involved; which units did or did not cross the border and under what conditions and authorities; what coordination was conducted, what battle damage occurred and the cause of deaths and injuries; and recommendations for improving near-border operations, according to the Pentagon.
Tags: afghanistan, AFSOC, Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark, Gen. James N. Mattis, ISAF, nato, Pakistan, U.S. Central Command
NATO bombed the way for rebels’ advance into Tripoli
August 23rd, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
F-16s -- like these landing at Aviano Air Base, Italy, after flying over Libya -- helped the rebels capture most of the country and set up the battle for Tripoli. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Tierney P. Wilson)
So Col. Muammar Gadhafi hasn’t been captured (and it looks like his son, Saif, might not ever have been), but it’s not too early to look at the role NATO jets played in toppling the Libyan government.
On Aug. 20, the day rebels first stormed Tripoli, NATO jets struck 22 targets inside the capital: three military facilities, one military storage facility, seven surface-to-air missile transloaders, one radar, one surface-to-surface missile, two armed vehicles, two armored fighting vehicles, three command-and-control nodes and two multiple rocket launchers.
And that’s just the latest round. Since NATO took over operations on March 31, the alliance flew more than 19,700 sorties — including 7,459 strike sorties.
So what role did the U.S. play? Here are the latest stats from the Pentagon, covering all services (and excluding the Odyssey Dawn portion of operations):
Total sorties: 5,357
Strike sorties: 1,221
Strike sorties that dropped ordnance: 262
Predator strikes: 101
The noose tightens around Gadhafi
August 19th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
So how well are things going in the United States’ third war?
Well, months of operating a no-fly zone over the no-fly zone, sanctions, interdicting ships entering port, striking at government forces and overall just supporting the rebellion has really started to put the heat on leader Moammar Gadhafi.
And while some people might be following the news, how well do you know the geography? Do you know your Azzawiyas from your Sirtes? Well, we’ve got a pretty neat map showing how bleak things look for the Gadhafi government.
Iyad El-Baghdadi — who identifies himself as an “entrepreneur, Austrian economist, animation trainer, forex trader, game programmer, project manager, Ron Paul fan, and Islamic libertarian” — has been compiling some pretty cool maps. He shared this one with us (click to expand):
And according to a few media outlets, the operation that was supposed to last “days, not weeks” might actually be over in a few days. Or a few weeks.
And guess who provides the email servers
June 17th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates took some outgoing-defense-secretaryish shots at NATO last week. Among the shots at the trans-Atlantic alliance: It’s “two-tiered” and faces “a dim, if not dismal future.”
And then there was this zinger:
“The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress — and in the American body politic writ large — to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense,” he said.”
Harsh words. So how does NATO respond to the the criticism that it’s become irrelevant? By using a Gmail account for official purposes. From a recent press release:
