More than 300 active duty and reserve airmen who were deployed to Southwest Asia from assignments at Keesler AFB, Miss., are being sent home early to help their families and help rebuild the devastated base. Another 100 airmen scheduled to deploy will remain at the Mississippi base.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.

