While the U.S. Navy is certainly doing its part in building up the fleet, its focus on peer-level adversaries like Russia and China is at contention with its responsibility to provide off-shore staging areas for special operations forces.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was reportedly livid over the possibility that a junior officer who survived the 2017 Nniger ambush would face punishment, while senior leaders would escape blame.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis pressed top Pakistani leaders Monday to “redouble” efforts to go after insurgents operating in safe havens, the Pentagon said, underscoring a long frustration with Islamabad over Taliban-linked militants that freely cross the border to conduct attacks against the U.S. and allies in Afghanistan.
Qatar is home to the massive Al Udeid Air Base, the forward headquarters of Central Command, which oversees the U.S.-led coalition’s bombing campaign against ISIS and manages a direct line to Russia to manage Syria’s crowded skies.