Exclusive: Inside the anti-Islamic State air campaign command center
Air Force Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria examined the photos arrayed on a table in a conference room. The grainy pictures showed a small oil well and collection pool operated by the Islamic State in the Syrian desert. The targeting officer gave Silveria a brief pitch: This was an opportunity to hit a key source of Islamic State revenue. […]Jim Michaels writes for USA Today:
Air Force Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria examined the photos arrayed on a table in a conference room. The grainy pictures showed a small oil well and collection pool operated by the Islamic State in the Syrian desert.
The targeting officer gave Silveria a brief pitch: This was an opportunity to hit a key source of Islamic State revenue. No civilians were around, and a pair of U.S. A-10 attack planes could get there quickly. The general turned to a military lawyer to see if he had any legal concerns. He didn’t.
The strike is one example of how the U.S. operation against the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria has become the most tightly managed air campaign in the history of warfare. USA TODAY was granted rare access to the command center here to witness how the team carries out that campaign.
