Americans still hold their military in high regard, according to the latest Gallup Poll. Gallup’s annual survey of public confidence in major American institutions shows that 73 percent have a great deal or a lot of confidence in the US armed forces. Closest in the ranking are policemen, while the least popular institutions are health maintenance organizations, big business, and Congress. The poll offered more bad news for a beleaguered Presidency: It fell 11 points in the percentage who hold it in high confidence.
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.