Air Power Remains America’s Best Weapon for Halting Islamic State
A year into the coalition campaign, air power has proven an effective instrument to both weaken Daesh and aid friendly forces. But with sectarian divisions and the Bashar Al Assad regime’s brutality creating a steady flow of recruits to replace battlefield losses, there is no indication that Daesh will starve,... Read more

Michael W. Pietrucha

Col. Mike “Starbaby” Pietrucha was an instructor and electronic warfare officer in the F-4G Wild Weasel and the F-15E Strike Eagle, amassing 156 combat missions and taking part in 2.5 SAM kills over 10 combat deployments. As an irregular warfare operations officer, Pietrucha has two additional combat deployments in the company of U.S. Army infantry, combat engineer and military police units in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jeremy Renken

Lt. Col. Jeremy “Maestro” Renken is an instructor pilot in the F-15E Strike Eagle, amassing 170 combat missions in three combat deployments to OIF and OEF. He is a graduate of the USAF Weapons Instructor Course and recently returned from AFCENT where he contributed to the design of the counter-Daesh air campaign.