BRAC commissioners left a special hearing without resolving the dispute over DOD plans to eliminate some ANG flying units around the country. In fact, Chairman Anthony Principi declared (according to the Washington Post) that the panel’s job had been made “more difficult.” Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, joined senior USAF officials in pitching the Pentagon case, maintaining the plan would not jeopardize US air defense. State Guard representatives claim the plan would do just that and would hinder recruiting and retention. The hearing, held last Thursday, was supposed to help bring about a compromise. It didn’t.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.