Talk around the Beltway never strays far from spending puzzles—the latest, of course, how to pay for Katrina. Analysts project the cost for recovery efforts at nearly $200 billion. Thoughts naturally turn to cuts. Questioned if the Pentagon would have to cut programs to pay its share, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld opined, “There’s no point in speculating.” Of course, speculation already runs high that the Quadrennial Defense Review will be taking hefty cuts on its own.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…