By U.S. Air Force Central Command Public Affairs, / Published
June 11, 2015
AL UDEID AIR BASE, Southwest Asia (AFNS) -- At the coalition
airpower hub for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the U.S. Central
Command area of responsibility, the commander and coalition partners know they
are making a difference in the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant terrorists.
“We know from our intelligence that (ISIL) fears coalition
airpower,” said Lt. Gen. John Hesterman III, the Combined Forces Air Component
commander. “Since Aug. 8, coalition airpower has significantly degraded
(ISIL’s) ability to organize, project and sustain combat power while taking
exceptional care to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties.”
Made up of 18 nations, the coalition airpower team is
committed to defeating ISIL and has had many successes on the battlefield.
Coalition airpower has helped ground forces regain
territory, removed significant numbers of fighters from the battlefield, and
eliminated the majority of ISIL oil refining capability. However, numbers don’t
tell the whole story.
“The success of coalition airpower throughout this conflict
is proven by (ISIL’s) response to our aircraft,” said Maj. John Easton, the Air
Forces Central Command tactics officer. “Early in the conflict, (ISIL) paraded
themselves in open convoys and brazenly identified their positions with flags
as many other fielded forces do. Coalition airpower’s ability to find and
target the enemy was so successful that (ISIL) has since modified their
tactics. We know now that they hide amongst the civilian populace and employ
decoys in an attempt to be un-targetable.”
With all of the changes the coalition has seen in (ISIL)
tactics, it would seem an impossible task to find and strike them, but the
coalition integrates intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance analysis and
strikes to keep after ISIL.
“As the enemy’s tactics change, so have our airpower
tactics, and we are still finding and eliminating (ISIL) fighters,” Easton
said. “(ISIL) is very much afraid of our ability to strike them.”
Each of the coalition nations contributes something
significant to this fight.
“The fact that we have a coalition working together and
fighting this enemy is itself a demonstration of combined commitment and
overall effectiveness against (ISIL),” said Canadian Brig. Gen. Patrice
Laroche, the Combined Air Operations Center director. “Arab, European, Asian,
North American – we all understand the importance of defeating (ISIL).”
Operators in today’s fight know just how critical coalition
airpower is to enable ground forces to get after the enemy and Hesterman stated
that virtually all are very proud of the contribution they are making, and
should be.
“I expect my team to lean forward, and they are,” Hesterman
said. “Not only has airpower been effective, but it has enabled virtually every
victory on the battlefield and given the ground forces time to regroup and get
their forces in order. It’s also given all our coalition nations the space and
time to execute the international lines of effort for countering flow of
foreign fighters; countering (ISIL) financing; providing humanitarian
assistance; countering (ISIL’s) messaging; and stabilizing liberated areas, all
of which will be necessary to finish (ISIL).”
However, some critics have downplayed airpower’s
effectiveness and compared this conflict to Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi
Freedom, but those are false comparisons according to Lt. Col. Dave Haworth,
the CAOC Combat Operations director.
“While pilots struck large numbers of targets in Desert
Storm and the opening days of OIF, those fights had extremely different and
available target sets,” Haworth said.
“In previous campaigns, we were fighting against a
conventional military that massed in the open, away from the civilian
population,” Haworth continued. “Those target sets don’t exist in this fight
now. We're fighting an enemy that hides behind civilians. You simply can’t
compare then to now.”
Targeting an enemy that hides among the civilian population
is difficult according to Haworth.
“It’s really, really complex to find the enemy, but we are
doing it,” Haworth said. “(ISIL) leadership is on the defense because the more
we learn about this enemy, the more targets open up. It’s a growth industry.”
Army Capt. Matt Mraz, the Joint Personnel Recovery Cell
deputy director, added that persistent air attack exploits ISIL’s weaknesses,
and it is clearly having an effect in concert with ground forces.
“Our senior leaders have always said this fight will be
difficult and that it will take time, but we're committed as a coalition team,”
Mraz said. “I’m confident that we are going to be able to take down these
kidnappers, rapists and murderers for the good of all nations.”
Hesterman said he’s very proud of the young men and women of
the coalition who are risking their lives every day to go after the ISIL
terrorists, and give the world the time it needs to galvanize the multiple
lines of effort that will ultimately finish ISIL.
“They're exceptionally proud of what they're doing and their
impact on the enemy,” Hesterman said. “They deserve the deep respect of every
one of us.”
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