Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, on a visit to Arnold AFB, Tenn., one of three potential sites for USAF’s new Common Battlefield Airman Training center, said he expects the environmental impact surveys of all three sites to be completed in January or February, reports the Times-Gazette. The other two contenders are Barksdale AFB, La., and Moody AFB, Ga. Once the surveys are done, service officials will rank order the bases, including consideration of the cost at each location, before presenting a list to Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley. According to The Huntsville Times, the Tennessee contingent is getting some help from Alabama lawmakers. Apparently the Volunteer State got behind shifts of defense workers from the Washington, D.C., area to Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal—a move that also benefited workers in Tennessee—during BRAC 2005, so Alabama is reciprocating.
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…
