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 Pentagon fulfilled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's promise to slash the number of Religious Affiliation Codes used by the military to track the volume of members adhering to different religions and to shape the chaplain corps to support them. The change reduces the number of religions counted for such purposes…