Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), speaking at a Montgomery Chamber of Commerce event on Feb. 16, said he does not believe Congress will go for another round of base closures since it is “still digesting the last BRAC,” reports the Maxwell-Gunter Dispatch. Others have taken an opposite view, at least they did almost two years ago before the economy took a nosedive. Some see a new BRAC as inevitable as the Pentagon strains under its budget and the services, certainly the Air Force, believe they still have excess infrastructure. In Shelby’s view, though, the focus should be on “challenges down the road” for our “over-stretched” military.
B-52 Stratofortress bombers marked a new first in Operation Epic Fury when some of the BUFFs flew over Iran carrying JDAM-guided gravity bombs, according to people familiar with the matter. The development signals a weakening of Iranian air defenses and a new use for the venerable bomber in the nearly…