Included in the House authorizers version of the 2007 defense authorization bill is a provision to permanently reduce by six months the time-in-grade requirement for an officer to become eligible for promotion to captain (or Navy, lieutenant). The current period is 24 months, but the House Armed Services Committee would make it 18 months. The same measure would provide an across-the-board military pay raise of 2.7 percent, which the committee says “would reduce the gap between average military and private sector pay raises from 4.5 percent to 4 percent.
The Air Force could conduct an operation like Israel's successful air campaign against Iran's nuclear sites, military leadership and air defenses, but readiness issues would make it risky, airpower experts said. Limited spare parts and training, low mission capable rates and few flying hours would put a drag on USAF's…