Considering the extensive damage fires have caused in the West of late, Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma got off lightly last week. Base and local firefighters fought a grass fire that burned some 100 acres, scorching areas at the base’s southeast perimeter. Just to be safe, officials evacuated dorm and base housing residents.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…

