Active and Reserve airmen at Barksdale AFB, La., have formed the Air Force’s first consolidated command post, which will provide a “more uniformly trained force,” said Lt. Col. Anthony Switalski, Barksdale Command Post chief. The new Total Force entity still faces several months of consolidation efforts, but once done, Switalski said, that controllers on duty, whether active or Reserve, will “be providing command and control for both wings”—the Air Combat Command 2nd Bomb Wing and Air Force Reserve Command 917th Wing. (917th Wing report by MSgt. Sherri Bohannon)
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.