The Senate Armed Services Committee agreed with Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) that the National Guard and Reserve should get time off their retirement dates for contingency support. According to a statement from Chambliss, the committee included in its markup for the 2008 defense authorization bill a provision that would reduce the age at which an individual would receive retirement pay by three months for every 90 days spent on active duty supporting a contingency operation and would subtract time for active duty service for national emergencies. Under current procedures, reservists must wait until they reach age 60 to collect retirement pay.
The Pentagon is significantly bolstering airpower near Venezuela, dispatching the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to Latin America, it said in an Oct. 24 statement. The announcement came just hours after U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers and other U.S. assets flew near the Venezuelan coast on Oct. 23.
