Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Solomon Ortiz (D-Tex.), chairman of the committee’s readiness panel, have commissioned two studies to address readiness issues and troop levels needed for current and future operations. In a joint statement, they note that the Congressional Budget Office should analyze troop levels for various scenarios in and out of Iraq, including options to address “identified readiness issues,” budgetary implications, and time frames needed to address readiness shortfalls. Skelton and Ortiz want the second study, by the Government Accountability Office, to concentrate on the status of prepositioned military stocks, gauging whether DOD plans to mitigate risks of a new conflict while it attempts to rebuild stocks.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
