USAF Presses for Greater Legislative Relief: The Air Force plan to further meld its active and reserve components is driving a new effort to change legal barriers to the enterprise. USAF did get some legislative relief a couple of years ago to the prohibitions against putting Title 10 (federal-controlled) and Title 32 (state-controlled) personnel in the same unit. (Read about USAF’s blended wing here.) In the words of officials at the time, the law is “becoming less and less ambiguous.” Now, according to Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes, USAF budget director, the service is seeking additional changes via the 2007 defense budget request. Faykes said the ultimate goal of the proposed changes to legal statutes is to enable an Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve officer to command and train active duty personnel.
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.
