Video by 1st Combat Camera Squadron

President Barack Obama has approved the use of U.S. armed predator strikes in Libya, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said April 22.

"The president has said that where we have some unique capabilities, he is willing to use those," Secretary Gates said. "In fact, he has approved the use of armed Predators (in Libya)."

Armed Predators have been used in Libya "purely as (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems) until today," said Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs said.

A combined Afghan and coalition force conducted a clearing operation targeting a Taliban safe haven in Murghab District, Badghis province, yesterday.

The combined security force conducted the operation to disrupt an insurgent safe haven known for facilitation activities and cache sites.

Southern Helmand province used to be a safe haven and stronghold for the insurgency in Afghanistan where the enemy could establish lines of communication and traffic drugs and weapons.

However, the insurgency has been disrupted and forced to find new lines of communication due to Operation Rawhide II. The 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion conducted a series of raids, successfully deterring the enemy and breaking its ability to communicate with insurgents in the north, said Capt. Christopher L. Buck, commanding officer for E Company, 3rd LAR, and native of Perry, Mich.

The actions taken by Kiowa Warrior pilots last month prevented a triggerman for an improvised explosive device from harming Americans and Iraqis.

Four pilots in two OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters were conducting an aerial reconnaissance mission in northern Iraq, March 11, 2011, in conjunction with U.S. and Iraqi ground forces, when they observed and engaged an IED emplacer along a major route frequently used by Iraqi civilians and U.S. forces.

One thing the pilots of the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade don’t have to worry about when executing a plan is fuel, thanks to the oldiers who operate the post’s Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP).

“We are like the NASCAR pit crew of aviation,” said 1st Lt. Marcellus Richardson, FARP officer in charge, and a native of Los Angeles. “Pilots fly in for a quick pit stop and we fuel them, arm them, and send them on their way.”

A combined Afghan and coalition security force captured a Taliban leader and numerous associates during a security operation in Panjwa’i District, Kandahar province, yesterday.

The leader was second-in-command for insurgent operations in Panjwa’i and actively planned attacks against coalition forces, including an attack against a coalition forward operating base.

Multiple intelligence tips led the security force to a compound in the district in search of the leader. The force secured and cleared multiple buildings, while ensuring the safety of the women and children.

Soldiers from 3rd Platoon, Company D, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, Task Force Ironman, climbed up a mountain in the area around the Aziz Khan Kats Mountain Valley near the Duranta Tunnel outside Jalalabad, Afghanistan, to check on their Afghan National Army counterparts who were manning observation posts there April 15.

Afghan and coalition forces killed 17 insurgents, including foreign fighters, and detained one suspected insurgent while searching for an al-Qaida senior leader during a security operation in Dangam district, Kunar province last night.

The senior al-Qaida leader commands and facilitates insurgents throughout the province and border region, directing weapons acquisition, movement, employment of fighters and equipment to Kunar for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.