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.
A combined Navy and Air Force program is seeking to build a smaller version of a ubiquitous air-to-air missile that could give advanced aircraft, such as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, greater magazine depth in a high-end fight.