A new GI Bill for veterans who have served since the terrorist attacks in the US on Sept. 11, 2001, sponsored by Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), awaits Senate action after the House on May 15 passed related legislation. The bipartisan measure, introduced last year, would provide “improved educational benefits similar to those provided to World War II veterans,” says Webb. The Senate version (S.22), as of May 20, had 57 cosponsors, including former Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. John Warner (R-Va.). On May 19, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said infloor remarks that he attended college under the original GI Bill, which was “one of the reasons why I am here today in the US Senate.” He called the new bill a “powerful recruitment tool for our military” and one that includes “a number of tools” to aid retention. (S.22 fact sheet) Other lawmakers are pursuing changes to the current Montgomery GI Bill.
Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.