Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrats are sponsoring an amendment to the 2008 defense authorization bill that would address safety concerns at the Warren Grove military training range following the fire sparked by a flare from a New Jersey Air National Guard F-16. The policy bill currently is before the full Senate. In a statement, Lautenberg says his amendment would require a safety measures report, first within 90 days and then annually for the next two years, and a study of community encroachment issues, delivered within 180 days and with input from the community and state and local governments.
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.
