The new chairman of the Air Combat Command Commander’s Group, comprising 21 key community representatives, is the representative from the military liaison committee for Beale AFB, Calif. Ron Bartoli is the president of the Beale committee and has been active in the push to get the Air Force to locate its new Cyber Command in California, specifically at Beale. The Appeal-Democrat reports that Bartoli says his election to the chair will give him “a little bigger voice.” The Air Force has put its provisional Cyber Command headquarters at Barksdale AFB, La., but that’s not the last word.
Pentagon Task Force, FAA to Test Counter-Drone Laser
March 7, 2026
The Pentagon’s counter-drone task force announced it would conduct a high-energy laser test with the Federal Aviation Administration less than a month after the use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border prompted the FAA to shut down the airspace over El Paso, Texas.