Free Republic

JALALABAD AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, April 16, 2007 — A new provincial reconstruction team comprised of active-duty airmen, Army National Guard and Reserve soldiers assumed its role in Nangarhar during a transfer of authority ceremony April 12 at the PRT compound in Jalalabad. Air Force Lt. Col. Gordon Phillips assumed command from Air Force Lt. Col. Dave Naisbitt during a ceremony attended by a mass formation of incoming and outgoing soldiers and airmen. Naisbitt praised the efforts of his own organization and expressed confidence in the incoming team. “The people standing here are better trained then we were, better equipped than we...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2006 – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today highlighted the importance of promoting a more cooperative working relationship between American diplomats and the U.S. military in order to achieve global objectives. "Over the past 15 years, as violent state failure has become a greater global threat, our military has borne a disproportionate share of post-conflict responsibilities because we have not had the standing civilian capability to play our part fully," she said in a speech at Georgetown University here. "This was true in Somalia, in Haiti, in Bosnia, in Kosovo and it is still partially true in...

AN EXPEDITIONARY CAMP IN WESTERN KUWAIT, March 17, 2003 -- Largely unaccustomed to city fighting and well aware of its heavy risks, the U.S. Army and Air Force in coming days may be faced with the prospect of unseating a hostile regime in Iraq's capital city. To get prepared, the land and air components have agreed they would attack Baghdad by adapting a warfighting approach traditionally used when jet aircraft fly in support of heavy tanks on the ground, U.S. officers tell InsideDefense.com. As in past wars, responsibility for coordinating "close air support" for ground units engaged with enemy forces...