DOD now has to count the service of National Guard troops who were called to duty at Ground Zero during the immediate aftermath of 9/11. New York lawmakers Sen. Hillary Clinton (D), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D), and Rep. Peter King (R) spearheaded a successful effort to add legislation to the final 2006 defense authorization bill to extend federal retirement credit to Guardsmen called to service at the epicenter of the terror attacks. Pentagon officials had opposed the idea because some of the Guardsmen guarding Ground Zero were not federalized.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
