T
hat is the headline on a recruiting pitch from the 720th Special Tactics Group at Hurlburt Field, Fla., for airmen to consider jumping into the world of special tactics. The lead paragraph reads like a plug for a James Bond movie, describing the ways a special tactics airman may get to work—everything from freefall parachuting to amphibious infiltration to traveling cross country on a motorcycle or a pair of skis. The pitch notes that Combat Controllers, Pararescue Jumpers, and Special Operations Weathermen are in “great demand” and “cannot be mass produced.” Interested? The 720th has a recruiting briefing and physical stamina test lined up for next week.
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…

