The Congressionally chartered Commission on the National Guard and Reserves is getting company in its effort to review the now more extensive use of reserve components. The Pentagon has tapped its Defense Science Board to form a task force to study the “length and frequency of the deployment” of reservists. The task force is to assess the consequences of such deployments on force structure, morale, and mission capability and to identify the “optimal” length and frequency. Lastly, the task force must identify “mechanisms to reduce” said lengthy and frequent deployments.
United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket is slated to fly its second national security mission in February—nearly six months after its first operational launch and almost a year after it was certified to fly military payloads for the Space Force.

