Does the Pentagon have the right to shift Air National Guard units and missions without consulting individual states? “Yes, it does,” said the Justice Department in a special Aug. 10 opinion on the matter. The opinion, however, isn’t likely to cut much ice with the Guard and the Governors, given that Justice serves as the Pentagon’s lawyer in lawsuits filed by the states on this very issue.
Defense experts say the drone threat represents only part of a larger, looming problem: U.S. air bases in the Pacific are increasingly vulnerable to air attacks.