PITY THE POOR TALIBAN:

The Air Force's latest push for a more flexible force -- known as agile combat employment -- could help the service keep airmen at home longer and its aircraft readiness up, the leader of a key expeditionary wing in the Middle East told Air Force Times April 30. But deployments could become more intense for airmen when they do go abroad.

Adopting ACE into regular operations across the force would likely increase the pace and frequency of missions, said Brig. Gen. Larry Broadwell, commander of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

But that's not the only measure of military prowess -- it's also about efficiency. The service wants to outsmart its adversaries and limit geographic weaknesses without sending many more people overseas.

Last week, the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron out of RAF Lakenheath, England, touted its first attempt to use multiple fighter jets as munitions trucks on April 25 while en route from an undisclosed location to Al Dhafra.

Six F-15E Strike Eagles carried 12 GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions, double their usual load. The squadron calls it their "have bombs, will travel" configuration.

"We were asked to come out and support combat missions with a very short turnaround, and with the bombs not being built previously here for us," Capt. Jessica Niswonger, a weapon system officer and mission planner at the squadron, said in a release. "By carrying more bombs than we'd actually carry to drop, we're setting up the initial days of combat."

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