Airmen of the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing appeared on NBC’s “Today Show” yesterday, as the Today crew broadcast from the Arctic. The Times Union reports that the Air Guardsmen were part of a three-minute segment “From Pole to Pole,” in which host Matt Lauer talked about the unit, which is performing its annual Operation Deep Freeze mission with its ski-equipped LC-130s. (Currently there’s a video about the unit on the MSNBC page under “Ends of the Earth.”
Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon rebrand is months away and not yet assured.