The Senate on Dec. 9 confirmed the nomination of Maj. Gen. Harry Wyatt III to receive a third star and take over as head of the Air National Guard. The Bush Administration last month nominated Wyatt, who serves currently as the Oklahoma Adjutant General, to fill the post recently vacated by Gen. Craig McKinley. McKinley, who led the ANG from May 2006, received his fourth star on Nov. 17 and became director of the National Guard Bureau. Since then Maj. Gen. Emmett Titshaw has been acting director of the Air Guard.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III rebuffed criticism that the F-35 program has proved too costly and unreliable to serve as the viable backbone of America’s and allies' future fighter fleet on April 30. “I would not categorize the F-35 as a paperweight,” Austin said in response to questioning…