The US military is being stretched thin by the American-led air war against the Islamic State (IS), US Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said Thursday.
The US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria dropped more than 5,000 bombs on the militant group in August, setting a record for the three-year campaign. But the Air Force has just 55 active fighter squadrons, an almost 60% drop from the first Gulf War in 1991, as it faces arbitrary budget cuts and a shortage of planes and pilots.