Lawmakers did add a late provision to the last-minute workings on the 2006 defense authorization bill that would permit adoption of military working dogs—under “unusual or extraordinary circumstances”—before they have reached the end of their military working life. The story behind this legislation made headlines around the country. At the center was USAF TSgt. Jamie Dana, a security forces dog handler who was severely wounded by an improvised explosive device in Iraq. Before passing out, she asked about her dog Rex and was told he had been killed; she learned in the hospital that he had survived. According to Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), Gen. Michael Moseley, USAF Chief of Staff, indicated the service would exercise the waiver, once the legislation is signed by the President, to permit Dana to adopt Rex.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…