President Bush has nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert J. Elder Jr. for promotion to lieutenant general and to command 8th Air Force at Barksdale AFB, La. Elder, who currently is commandant of the Air War College and vice commander of Air University, also would serve as the joint functional component commander for Space and Global Strike at US Strategic Command, headquartered at Offutt AFB, Neb. If confirmed, Elder would take over from Lt. Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, who recently was nominated to take become commander of Air Force Space Command.
The cost of the nuclear AGM-181 Long-Range Stand Off missile has come down slightly and the program is on track, but several technologies it relies on are still considered immature, the Government Accountability Office found in a report. Meanwhile, the GAO also assessed the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile as…