Free Republic

In the wake of the U.S. Air Force leadership shake up, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is directing the service to field six more Predator combat air patrols (CAPs), as well as more Reapers to support operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The order comes shortly after Gates’ first briefing from the new Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Task Force June 6. He set up the task force in April, explaining during a speech at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., that getting warfighting support from institutional military — namely, the Air Force — was “like pulling teeth.” A lack of support for...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq — The battlefield of today is much different than in wars past with an enemy who prefers to cower in hiding and use his weapon of choice, the improvised explosive device; a diabolical tool of destruction, ominously waiting road-side to mangle unsuspecting Coalition vehicles. Combating this ever popular threat are the brave men conducting route clearance throughout Iraq such as the Marines of Reaper platoon, Company A, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 1. The Reapers deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in October of last year for a seven month tour supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom with Regimental...

War On Terror: By killing government troops, tribal militants sheltering al-Qaida in Pakistan's badlands have torn up what was left of their bogus peace treaty. They don't deserve another break. Militants over the weekend unleashed several suicide-bomb attacks on Pakistani troops, killing nearly 100. They're on the offensive, and we still don't seem to have a plan other than to continue outsourcing the fight to Pakistan's beleaguered army. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley conceded that Islamabad's 10-month-old peace deal -- which withdrew troops from the border region and freed hundreds of terrorists -- provided al-Qaida with a safe haven in...