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The U.S. is sending B-1 bombers and surveillance aircraft to Australia as part of "an important shift in the way we posture our forces" in the Asia-Pacific region, a defense official told Congress on Wednesday.
That shift includes troop rotations to the Philippines and moving Marines from Okinawa to Hawaii, Guam and Australia, David Shear, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"We will be placing additional Air Force assets in Australia as well, including B-1 bombers and surveillance aircraft," he said.
Shear did not say where those aircraft would come from or when they would arrive in Australia. A Defense Department spokesman had no further information about the aircraft deployments on Thursday.
"DoD has routinely deployed heavy-lift bomber assets through Australia in the past, including a B-52 visit last December," Marine Lt. Col. Jeffrey Pool said in an email to Air Force Times. "With regard to our force posture initiatives in Australia, we are currently exploring a range of options for future rotations with our Australian counterparts. The specifics of future force posture cooperation are yet to be finalized."
The U.S. and Australia reached an agreement in November 2011 to increase the U.S. military's presence in Australia.
"Our Air Force will rotate additional aircraft through more airfields in Northern Australia," President Obama said at a Nov. 16, 2011, news conference. "And these rotations, which are going to be taking place on Australian bases, will bring our militaries even closer and make them even more effective.
"We'll enhance our ability to train, exercise, and operate with allies and partners across the region, and that, in turn, will allow us to work with these nations to respond even faster to a wide range of challenges, including humanitarian crises and disaster relief, as well as promoting security cooperation across the region."
In 2013, Gen. "Hawk" Carlisle, then commander of Pacific Air Forces, said training missions to the Pacific would be modeled after "Checkered Flag" deployments during the Cold War.
The deployments, which lasted from 1978 to 1997, typically involved stateside active-duty squadrons deploying once every two years to Europe to become more familiar with NATO airfields. At the time, the Air Force was much larger than it is now, so the system involved about 15 fighter deployments and four bomber deployments per year.
B-1 bombers headed to Australia
That shift includes troop rotations to the Philippines and moving Marines from Okinawa to Hawaii, Guam and Australia, David Shear, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"We will be placing additional Air Force assets in Australia as well, including B-1 bombers and surveillance aircraft," he said.
Shear did not say where those aircraft would come from or when they would arrive in Australia. A Defense Department spokesman had no further information about the aircraft deployments on Thursday.
"DoD has routinely deployed heavy-lift bomber assets through Australia in the past, including a B-52 visit last December," Marine Lt. Col. Jeffrey Pool said in an email to Air Force Times. "With regard to our force posture initiatives in Australia, we are currently exploring a range of options for future rotations with our Australian counterparts. The specifics of future force posture cooperation are yet to be finalized."
The U.S. and Australia reached an agreement in November 2011 to increase the U.S. military's presence in Australia.
"Our Air Force will rotate additional aircraft through more airfields in Northern Australia," President Obama said at a Nov. 16, 2011, news conference. "And these rotations, which are going to be taking place on Australian bases, will bring our militaries even closer and make them even more effective.
"We'll enhance our ability to train, exercise, and operate with allies and partners across the region, and that, in turn, will allow us to work with these nations to respond even faster to a wide range of challenges, including humanitarian crises and disaster relief, as well as promoting security cooperation across the region."
In 2013, Gen. "Hawk" Carlisle, then commander of Pacific Air Forces, said training missions to the Pacific would be modeled after "Checkered Flag" deployments during the Cold War.
The deployments, which lasted from 1978 to 1997, typically involved stateside active-duty squadrons deploying once every two years to Europe to become more familiar with NATO airfields. At the time, the Air Force was much larger than it is now, so the system involved about 15 fighter deployments and four bomber deployments per year.
B-1 bombers headed to Australia
