Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) have taken the next step in their drive to straighten out a housing privatization mess that has stalled housing projects in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and Massachusetts. Last week, they and several other Senators sent a letter to the Air Force, decrying the service’s lack of accountability and inadequate performance mechanisms. This week, they have introduced legislation that would, among several initiatives, ensure “more effective oversight of funding” and require “a more vigorous process in vetting project bidders.” The Senators are not attacking the overall privatized housing initiative, which they have acknowledged has progressed very well in other locations. (For instance, read about the new homes at McGuire AFB, N.J. in the Burlington County Times).
Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing helped save 11 airplane crash survivors off the coast of Florida on May 12. The Reserve Airmen were flying an HC-130J Combat King II and an HH-60W Jolly Green II on a routine training flight when a Coast Guard call diverted…