Amid tension with Iran, U.S. Air Force shifts Middle East command center from Qatar to South Carolina
Adam Taylor
September 29 at 3:31 PM
AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar — For 13 years, the United States has used a single building in this tiny gulf state to command fighter jets, bombers, drones and other Air Force assets in a region that stretches from Northeast Africa through the Middle East to South Asia.
And yet on Saturday, as 300 planes were in the air in key areas such as Syria, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf, hundreds of seats at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar sat empty.
Instead, the air power of the United States and its allies was being controlled by teams at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina — more than 7,000 miles away. Though the move was only temporary — Al Udeid took back control on Sunday after 24 hours — it was a significant tactical shift.
https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/amid-tension-with-iran-u-s-air-force-shifts-middle-east-command-center-from-qatar-to-south-carolina.637664/
