With far less fanfare than greeted the kickoff of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process back in May, the final recommendations of the BRAC commission became law, when Congress failed to reject the list within 45 days after lawmakers received the package from President Bush. DOD can now begin closing and realigning 22 major bases and 33 other large facilities across the country.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.