A U.S. Air Force Air Commando assigned to the 27th Special Operations Wing controls sensors on an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship during a live-fire training event over a live-fire range in Australia during exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, July 11, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Gracelyn Hess)
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brien Disbro, a crew chief assigned to the174th Attack Wing, performs post-flight maintenance on an MQ-9 Reaper on Mar. 10, 2025 at Springfield-Beckley Air National Guard Base in Springfield, Ohio. The MQ-9 arrived for Advanced Wrath, a two-week exercise supporting U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue operations, and testing for the Air Force Research Laboratory. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Shane Hughes)
U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 27th Special Operations Wing prepare a small unmanned aerial system for takeoff during an Adaptive Airborne Enterprise Exercise Talon Spear at Melrose Air Force Range, N.M. June 21, 2023. The goal of Exercise Talon Spear is to integrate small unmanned aerial systems for the rapid mobility capability for agile combat employment. (U.S. Air Force photo Senior Airman Alexcia Givens)
U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the U.S. Navy John Phelan arrives to a Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on February 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)