Secretary of Defense Ash Carter will visit Scott AFB, Ill., and Nellis AFB, Nev., this week, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook announced Aug. 25. Carter will fly from Washington, D.C., to Scott for the ceremony in which Gen. Darren McDew will take the reigns of US Transportation Command. He will then travel to Nellis for a first-hand look at the Red Flag exercise, Cook said. Carter also plans to meet with airmen at Nellis before heading to California for a stop at a marine base and a visit to Silicon Valley. Gen. Carlton Everhart assumed command of Air Mobility Command from McDew earlier this month; outgoing TRANSCOM Commander Gen. Paul Selva in July was confirmed to be the new vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Though Nellis calls Red Flag the “Air Force’s premier air-to-air combat training exercise,” former Chief of Staff retired Gen. Michael Moseley in July said it does not have the resources to train airmen for modern, high-end conflict.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
