A significant reshuffling of oversight responsibility is in the offing under the leadership of the new House Armed Services Committee Chairman, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.). Government Executive reports that Skelton will shift Air Force strategic air to the Air and Land Forces Subcommittee (formerly Tactical Air and Land Forces). That will leave only Navy and Marine Corps programs within the former Projection Forces Subcommittee, now called the Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee.
When an E-3 Sentry battle management aircraft was damaged in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, it sparked a host of questions about one of the Air Force’s oldest, smallest, but most critical fleets. Experts say the service doesn’t have many options to answer those questions.