The last-minute try by Maine Senators to have the Pentagon donate—free—the military facilities to be shuttered in Maine to the state’s local governments failed to catch fire. (DR, 11/09/05) Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and cohorts rushed an amendment to the 2006 defense authorization bill to the Senate floor, but lawmakers rejected it.
Air Mobility Command’s interim boss said the Air Force is behind on modernizing its airlift fleet, to include selecting a Next-Generation Airlifter to replace the service’s fleet of C-5 and C-17 workhorses—a project that faces stiff competition for resources in the service’s modernization portfolio.