Veterans Affairs has plans to open a new VA health care center in Harlingen, Tex., prompted by an independent study requested by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.). The new facility, says a VA release, will eliminate “about 95 percent” of trips by veterans to San Antonio to seek medical care. VA also plans to expand services at McAllen and Corpus Christi. The Harlingen initiative begins right away with expansion of current VA space and will continue to 2010, when VA expects to have nearly 165,000 square feet of medical space.
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…