Free Republic

While Predator and Global Hawk drones cross the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan looking for insurgents or hunting for Osama bin Laden, thousands of kilometres away in Washington they have been dragged into a vicious turf battle.Resurrecting tensions over US airpower that have lingered since the Korean war, the air force is pushing to become “executive agent” for drones – unmanned aircraft – that fly above 3,500 feet. The army, navy and marines oppose the move, which would make the air force responsible for the acquisition and development of unmanned aerial vehicles such as the army’s Sky Warrior. As Gordon...

ABOARD USS JOHN C. STENNIS, March 6, 2007 – Navy, Marine Corps and Army personnel are working side by side aboard the USS John C. Stennis Strike Group supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The Stennis Strike Group is afloat in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility, which encompasses about 7.5 million square miles and includes the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean. “This is the epitome of a joint operation,” said Navy Rear Adm. Kevin Quinn, commander of Carrier Strike Group 3. “Our primary mission is to conduct air operations in...

6/13/2006 - PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- A multi-service supply convoy slowly crawled along a dusty, rock-strewn road winding up and around mountains, through tiny, remote villages, scenic wheat fields and pastures en route to a relief mission June 12. At approximately 8,000 feet above sea level, at the village of Dara, the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team and volunteers from the 405th Civil Affairs Battalion offloaded beans, rice, cooking oil, salt, powdered milk and tea. “It was slow-going in a fully loaded five-ton truck that is as wide as the road in places,” said Army Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Brian...