The National Board of the Civil Air Patrol earlier this month elected Maj. Gen. Amy Courter to be CAP National Commander, according to a CAP Aug. 7 release. As such, she will serve as both a member of the Board of Governors and National Board and will lead CAP’s volunteer force of some 56,000. Courter had served as CAP’s interim commander for a year, following the ouster of the former National Commander, Maj. Gen. Antonio Pineda.
The final version of the fiscal 2026 defense policy bill calls for adding $1.2 billion to the Space Force’s research and development accounts, an increase that’s mostly split between two efforts: expanding the service’s low-Earth orbit data transport network and boosting its space-based missile warning and tracking capabilities.
