The Pentagon is readying around 4,700 Active-duty forces to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency at coronavirus vaccination sites nationwide, expanding the military's role in pandemic-response efforts. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III is directing more than a four-fold increase in the number of troops headed to help vaccinate the general public, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Feb. 12. The original plan involved five 222-person teams, but is now spiking to 25 total teams who will deploy in the near future.

Defense Department and congressional leaders on Feb. 12 named eight people to the bipartisan commission tasked with renaming bases and other military property that bear the names of Confederate leaders. The panel was created in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The eight members of the commission include former high-ranking military officials, along with a business leader, a congressman, and the secretary of the Smithsonian.

More than three dozen Air Force officials are headed to new postings at the Pentagon and around the world, the Defense Department announced Feb. 12. At the highest level, Maj. Gen. Charles S. Corcoran will leave his job as head of the Air Force Warfare Center in Nevada to serve as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations at USAF headquarters in the Pentagon. Major commands, numbered Air Forces, and operational wings will see leadership shifts as well.

U.S. and Israeli troops are practicing ballistic missile defense and collaborative crisis response as part of exercise Juniper Falcon 2021, U.S. European Command told Air Force Magazine Feb. 10. Approximately 300 Defense Department representatives, including American Airmen, are taking part in the two-week-long exercise that began Jan. 31.

In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

On March 23, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Series event featuring Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller. At a time when nuclear modernization programs are accelerating around the world, proposals to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are at the forefront of debates over defense spending. Miller will share his insights into the prospects for U.S. nuclear modernization programs and the value of nuclear deterrence in today's competitive security environment. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event.