Air Force Global Strike Command, headquartered at Barksdale AFB, La., earlier this month celebrated its first birthday. “Let me just state it clearly up front: any success we have had so far helping to reinvigorate the nuclear enterprise is due almost entirely to the tireless, skilled, and dedicated efforts of you, our airmen,” stated Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, AFGSC boss, in a release. He also praised the command’s civilian employees and contractors. The command oversees USAF’s nuclear-capable bomber and ICBM forces. Global Strike Command was activated on Aug. 7, 2009; later this year, it will reach full operational capability. At that time, it will have about 900 headquarters staff and about 23,000 personnel overall spread among the command’s three bomber bases and three operational ICBM bases. “We realize that having pride in our nuclear heritage and mission is critically important to our future success as a command,” said Klotz during a Capitol Hill speech in late July.
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…
