This Friday news dump story should be a massive alarm bell in the night as to what Trump is planning in the next several months as far as military action.
President Trump signed an executive order Friday allowing the Air Force to recall as many as 1,000 retired pilots to active duty to address a shortage in combat fliers, the White House and Pentagon announced.
By law, only 25 retired officers can be brought back to serve in any one branch. Trump's order removes those caps by expanding a state of national emergency declared by President George W. Bush after 9/11, signaling what could be a significant escalation in the 16-year-old global war on terror.
"We anticipate that the Secretary of Defense will delegate the authority to the Secretary of the Air Force to recall up to 1,000 retired pilots for up to three years," Navy Cdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement.
But the executive order itself is not specific to the Air Force, and could conceivably be used in the future to call up more officers and in other branches.
All of a sudden there's a "pilot shortage" in the war against Islamic State? I don't buy that for a second. A thousand more combat pilots won't make much of a difference when the goal is to secure land gains against an entrenched enemy. We already have air superiority against ISIS, it's not like guys who use IEDs have a modern air force.
But I'll tell you who does have an air force, as well as plenty of targets for precision bombing that would require an immediate need to call up a thousand skilled fighter pilots or more.
Iran and North Korea.
This is the back-door draft in action, guys. The notion that this is going to be only used or even primarily used to take on Islamic State in Africa is ridiculous.
But it makes perfect sense if you're ramping up military action against Tehran or Pyongyang.
Stay tuned.
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