More Sorties, More Munitions

January 8, 2008— Airpower sorties climbed in 2007 for operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Close Air Support sorties reached nearly 20,000 in Iraq and almost 14,000 in Afghanistan, compared to about 16,000 and 10,500, respectively, the previous year. The increased air support in Iraq followed the ground-force surge. In Afghanistan, the data also show a marked rise in the number of munitions dropped over the past two years, evidence of the resurgence of Taliban activity. The number of airlift sorties, covering both operations, declined somewhat in 2007, compared to 2006, but the overall amount of supplies airdropped to troops went up considerably.

Verbatim

"Painfully Aware"
Within a few years, we will have 75 percent fewer nuclear weapons than at the end of the Cold War. Abolishing nuclear weapons once and for all is a worthy long-term goal. … We must always hedge against a dangerous and unpredictable world. Rising and resurgent powers, rogue nations pursuing nuclear weapons, proliferation, international terrorism—all demand that we preserve this 'hedge.' … [However] the mere existence of weapons with such destructive power … rightfully brings much scrutiny to bear on how they are handled. Nobody is more aware of this fact—painfully aware—than the men and women of this base."
—Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking with airmen at Minot AFB, N.D., the site of one of the nuclear enterprise missteps that spawned leadership changes throughout the Air Force and the birth of a new nuclear-centric major command, Dec. 1, 2008.

Verbatim

The "Connective Tissue"
While our many DOD and interagency panels and committees provide opportunities for interface across interagency lines, I am not convinced that we are tying these discussions together into a sufficiently robust interagency framework for developing a national space vision, strategy, and resourcing plan. … America's airmen are embedded throughout the joint community and sister agencies, and every day, they strive to extend the benefits of the nation's investment in defense space systems to a broad and diverse range of customers. In many ways, it is America's airmen that serve as the connective tissue across the national security space enterprise.
—Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, speaking at AFA's Global Warfare Symposium in Los Angeles, Nov. 21, 2008.