As of earlier this week, there were still some 800 Air Force civilian employees on furlough due to the partial federal government shutdown, said Acting Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning. “Every day, we work diligently to bring more of our civilians back to do the jobs they signed up to do,” said Fanning in a statement dated Oct. 9. “We will continue to do so until our last member returns,” he said. These civilian employees are still on furlough “due to the mechanics of the Pay Our Military Act,” said Fanning. While the legislation allowed the Air Force on Oct. 7 to recall nearly all of the roughly 104,000 civilian workers that it had to place on furlough on Oct. 1 when government appropriations lapsed, those serving in positions like auditing, legislative liaisons, and performing chief information officer functions were unable to return. “While the interpretation of the law places these [civilians] outside the scope of the act, this is not a reflection of their work,” said Fanning.
The U.S. thwarted a drone attack on U.S. forces at Al Asad air base in western Iraq on April 22, marking the first time that American troops have been targeted since February, U.S. officials said. “We can confirm it was an attack on Al Asad,” a defense official told Air & Space…