Direct proof of use
U.S. Air Forces Central imagery from September 27, 2014 documents a B-1B Lancer over northern Iraq after conducting air strikes in Syria against ISIL targets. A second public-domain record from the same strike package describes a KC-135 refueling a B-1B before strike operations in Syria and states that the B-1B was part of a coalition package engaging ISIL targets.
AFCENT later reported that a 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron B-1B departed Al Udeid Air Base on April 8, 2018 for its first AFCENT-area combat mission since 2016 and would support Operation Inherent Resolve. The parent compact row therefore maps the weapon to the anti-ISIS coalition and partner-forces side.
Sources: DVIDS Air Strikes in Syria, Wikimedia KC-135 Refuels B-1B, AFCENT B-1 Joins Fight
Timeline
The B-1B appears in public AFCENT records from the opening months of the campaign. DVIDS records place B-1B strike activity against ISIL targets in Syria on September 27, 2014, and AFCENT's April 2015 Al Udeid retrospective ties B-1B sortie generation and munitions support to Operation Inherent Resolve's first six named months.
During the Kobani fight from October 2014 into January 2015, RAND identifies B-1B bombers as one of the principal aircraft types used in coalition strikes and says B-1Bs delivered the greatest share of munitions in that battle. In April 2018, AFCENT recorded the B-1B's return to AFCENT combat missions after a B-52 rotation had carried the bomber mission for two years.
Sources: DVIDS Air Strikes in Syria, AFCENT Al Udeid OIR Accomplishments, RAND Air War Against ISIS, AFCENT B-1 Joins Fight, AFCENT BUFF Passes Bomber Torch
Narrative
In Operation Inherent Resolve, the B-1B was used as a U.S. long-range bomber and persistent strike platform rather than as transferred equipment. Its role was coalition airpower: carrying guided and unguided munitions, remaining on station for extended missions, and supporting strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria.
The best-documented early B-1B use is in Syria. AFCENT/DVIDS imagery places the aircraft in a September 2014 strike package against ISIL targets, while Air Force Times reporting on 9th Bomb Squadron crews describes B-1B crews being redirected from Afghanistan-tasked missions to the first bomber missions against the Islamic State and later focusing on Kobani.
Kobani became the most concentrated early case. RAND's air-war study says coalition air operations at Kobani ran from October 2014 through January 2015, identifies B-1B bombers among the main aircraft used, and concludes from official clues that B-1Bs delivered the greatest share of munitions there because of their payload and loiter time. Air Force Times similarly reported that B-1 crews from the 9th Bomb Squadron dropped about 660 bombs on Kobani during the first five months of Operation Inherent Resolve.
After B-52 squadrons held the deployed bomber mission from 2016 to 2018, AFCENT reported that B-1Bs returned to AFCENT combat missions in April 2018. That renewed deployment connected the upgraded B-1B fleet back to Operation Inherent Resolve and Freedom's Sentinel, with AFCENT describing the aircraft as able to carry the Air Force's largest conventional payload.
Sources: DVIDS Air Strikes in Syria, Air Force Times B-1 Crew, RAND Air War Against ISIS, AFCENT B-1 Joins Fight, AFCENT BUFF Passes Bomber Torch
