The National Guard cut seen in the Administration’s 2007 defense budget proposal targets the Army Guard. Did the governors in their Washington meeting also take exception to the Air Force plan to trim the Air National Guard or did they table that for another day? USAF leaders say they do not plan to make ANG and Air Force Reserve Command cuts in 2006 or 2007, rather they first will target the active component. Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley has said that the reserve component share of the planned cut of 57,000 airmen is about 20 percent—around 11,000. The cuts would be taken through 2011.
The nation needs a better-coordinated policy for dealing with unmanned aerial systems that threaten domestic bases, Air Force vice chief of staff Gen. James C. Slife told a panel of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He and Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante co-chair a panel looking at counter-UAS…