A c
ontingent of 32 airmen in Southwest Asia runs Camp Patriot for the Army. Members of the 586th Expeditionary Mission Support Group provide transportation services, meals, lodging, fitness center operations, and civil engineering functions—all the services that normally sustain troops in their deployment. The airmen are surrounded by soldiers, sailors, marines, and Coast Guardsmen, reports SSgt. Ian Carrier.
With a fresh directive from the president, the department could opt to repeat its unconventional—and potentially unlawful—move to pay troops using unused non-personnel appropriations.
