The US Air Force is publicly confirming it is operating an air war against ISIS out of a base in the United Arab Emirates. For more than 10 years the Air Force has been quite about operations at the Al Dhafra Air Base but now is acknowledging the presence of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing.
Military.com first spoke with members of the 380th on a trip to the Middle East earlier this summer on condition the name and location of the base not be disclosed, and that full names of personnel not be used due to safety concerns amid ongoing air operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
In addition to housing one of the largest fuel farms in the world, the wing houses such aircraft as the KC-10 tanker; the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude drone; the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, aircraft; the U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane; and the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles Corcoran, commander of the 380th AEW and an F-22 pilot said, “We’re fighting an enemy — ISIS — in another country — Syria — where there’s also an insurgency going on, but we’re not really invited to be” a part of that, he said. “But we can’t leave it to the Syrians to get rid of ISIS, because that wasn’t working, right? So it’s really an odd place to be.”
He added, “We know … we’re going to defeat ISIS. Their days are numbered. What next?” – DoDBuzz
Featured image by US Air Force
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