Cliff Stearns: “last month the May 15 edition of Newsweek ran an article regarding Kosovo and the damage assessment data that was…”

“last month the May 15 edition of Newsweek ran an article regarding Kosovo and the damage assessment data that was gathered by NATO and the United States Air Force. While some of the accusations in the article raised concerns on both sides of the issue, I believe, Mr. Speaker, it misses the point, and, that is, the outstanding job accomplished by our men and women of the United States Air Force. What many fail to realize is that the Air Force was practically engaged in a major theater war. Thirty-eight thousand sorties were flown during the 78-day operation with two aircraft lost to enemy fire. At the beginning of Operation Allied Force, the average number of sorties flown per day was 200. That number increased to 1,000 by the end of that conflict. Furthermore, the United States expended over 23,315 munitions with the United States Air Force accounting for 91 percent of that amount. That in itself, Mr. Speaker, is a logistics success story. Over 20,000 Air Force personnel were deployed in Operation Allied Force. The operation also included 13 percent of Air Force fighter aircraft, 16 percent of bombers and 28 percent of tanker aircraft. At the same time, United States Air Force equipment and personnel were deployed to Northern Watch in Iraq, Southwest Asia, Central and South America, and various Pacific operations. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we have over 260,000 military personnel in over 100 countries.”