{"id":32534,"date":"2019-11-28T01:31:25","date_gmt":"2019-11-28T01:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/28\/after-isis-how-the-air-forces-centcom-mission-is-changing\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:24:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:24:00","slug":"after-isis-how-the-air-forces-centcom-mission-is-changing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/11\/28\/after-isis-how-the-air-forces-centcom-mission-is-changing\/","title":{"rendered":"After ISIS: How the Air Force\u2019s CENTCOM mission is changing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, the head of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, climbed into the cockpit of an F-16 on the flightline at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar Nov. 4 to take his old ride for a spin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fighting Falcons of the famed 555th Fighter Squadron<\/a> at Aviano Air Base in Italy had just arrived in Qatar for the first time in 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officially, the \u201cTriple Nickle\u201d deployed to Al Udeid \u201cto provide war-winning air power and deterrence to the region,\u201d according to an AFCENT news release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But their arrival sent another message \u2014 one likely heard loud and clear in Tehran, about 700 miles away: \u201cWatch your back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Islamic State founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dead<\/a> and the caliphate he sought to establish smashed, the terrorist group \u2014 while not defeated and perhaps capable of regaining strength \u2014 is now far less of a concentrated threat than when the group tore across Iraq and Syria in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the partial withdrawal of U.S. troops in Syria<\/a> ordered by President Donald Trump, and the Turkish incursion into the northern part of the country, means the Air Force is a lot less active in that area than it once was. Aside from the late October raid that took out Baghdadi, coalition forces have not conducted any airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria since Turkey launched operations there Oct. 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this is a sign that after five years of hard fighting to beat back ISIS, the Air Force is transitioning to a new role in the Middle East. The fight against terrorists likely will increasingly rely on unmanned aircraft such as the MQ-9 Reaper to conduct both intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions as well as airstrikes, when necessary. But fighters and bombers will continue to deploy to the region to keep Iran in check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Airmen prepare a 555th Fighter Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcon for takeoff from Aviano Air Base, Italy, Oct. 28, 2019. The 555th FS deployed in support of U.S. Air Forces Central Command. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Caleb House)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Air Force has been burning itself up by deploying manned assets over there,\u201d said John Venable, a defense policy expert at the Heritage Foundation who flew F-16s during his 25-year career in the Air Force, in a Nov. 18 interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are side benefits to the president\u2019s policy on, in large measure, leaving the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James agrees that a shift to more use of unmanned assets is quite possible in the next phase of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Mowing the lawn\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While ISIS was the Air Force\u2019s primary focus for the last five years, James said, they\u2019re not the only group that needs to be watched \u2014 and attacked when necessary. Terrorist offshoots in western Africa have led the Air Force to open a new base in Niger, hoping to keep them from establishing a foothold the way al-Qaida did in the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\t