Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has a soft spot for US Special Operations Command, so much so that he continues to push the command to take a larger role in the Global War on Terror. According to a Tampa Tribune, during Rumsfeld’s recent visit to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, home to SOCOM, he urged an even more forceful strategy for combating the threat. According to the Tribune, Rumsfeld may ask retired Army Gen. Wayne Downing, a former SOCOM commander, to undertake a review of the command and offer recommendations to improve operations. Air Force types will recall what a whiz-bang job Downing did leading the Pentagon’s inquest into the June 25, 1996, Khobar Towers bombing. Among other things, he missed the size of the truck bomb blast by 400 percent and also wound up blaming the one US military officer who actually tried to increase the security of his troops.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…