WASHINGTON – American troops on the ground in Iraq "could be in a position to even call in air strikes" on ISIL targets White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One Wednesday afternoon.

Earnest was reacting to comments made by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey on Sept. 16, where he said that if the situation on the ground in Iraq changed, he would be open to recommending to the president that US ground forces be deployed.

President Obama would likely consider requests to "forward deploy" American advisers with the Iraqi military "on a case-by-case basis" if the situation calls for it, Earnest said.

He reiterated that any deployed troops "would not be personally or directly engaging the enemy" however.

He spoke just hours after the president delivered a spirited defense of his strategy of using airstrikes and US advisers to thicken Iraqi and Kurd defenses against ISIL at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, promising that "as your commander in chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq."

Coming out of a meeting with the uniformed leaders of the US Central Command and his Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Obama told the military audience that US forces that have been deployed to Iraq "do not and will not have a combat mission. They will support Iraqi forces on the ground as they fight for their own country against these terrorists."

Earnest added that there may be a need in the future "to put American troops who are already in Iraq in an advisory capacity into forward-deployed positions with Iraqi troops. Not to engage in combat. They would not have a combat role. They would not be personally or directly engaging the enemy. Rather they would be providing tactical advice to Iraqi security forces."

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