Active Fighter Unit Takes up Noble Eagle 
Duty: Because members of the Louisiana Air National Guard’s 159th Fighter Wing, based at New Orleans airport, have been dealing with the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in their personal lives and to their Guard facilities, USAF tapped the active duty 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., to begin flying Operation Noble Eagle missions normally handled by the ANG unit. The 33rd’s 60th Fighter Squadron will be covering Noble Eagle for “an undetermined amount of time,” said USAF officials.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
