Key lawmakers, led by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, have just introduced the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007 (HR 1538). Skelton said the measure is “our initial legislative response to address the most compelling of the issues that have emerged surrounding the treatment of wounded warriors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.” In a joint statement, Vic Snyder (D-Ark.), chairman of the military personnel panel, said that the bill won’t fix every problem, but “it is intended to be a bipartisan first step in cutting through the bureaucracy and making sure that our service men and women are treated right.” Congressman Bob Filner (D-Calif.), chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, explained that the legislation “would provide for a pilot program to streamline the records transmission process” between DOD and VA.
With more than a third of the Air Force's entire E-3 AWACS fleet deployed to support the war against Iran, the ability to perform airborne battle management, or ABM, remains essential to the broader joint force, a new think tank report argues.