What was the impact of not dropping ordinance during a deployment?
A. Lethal force is typically the last option selected from a graduate list of choices that commanders have to achieve their mission. There are so many other possibilities, including peaceful actions, that occur first, to include humanitarian missions, providing cover air support to ground troops and demonstrating our readiness to friend and foe alike—all of which was accomplished during this deployment. As the show demonstrates coalition aircraft can also influence by a ‘show of force’ or providing aerial view in transmitting visuals back to leadership of battlefield action. These are only a few of the unique capabilities manned aircraft bring to operational commanders. Therefore, the coalition’s effectiveness is not necessarily measured by the singular action of dropping ordnance. The air wing was trained to perform their mission at every level and they did a fantastic job.
