Brig. Gen. Stephen L. Hoog, leader of the Air Force’s Air and Space Expeditionary Force Center, claims there is no better place to see the AEF in action than in Southwest and Central Asia. He recently paid a visit to elements of US Central Command Air Forces in the field to see the results of his outfit’s efforts to bring predictability to the deployment process. Why? He knows that “other than first-line supervisors and commanders, the AEF center has one of the greatest amounts of influence in every airman’s life.”
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…

