Air Force Materiel Command’s enlisted corps last week surprised Gen. Donald Hoffman, AFMC boss since November 2008, by informing him that it will induct him into the command’s Order of the Sword in October. CMSgt. Eric Jaren, AFMC’s command chief, made the announcement during the command’s enlisted awards banquet on March 31 at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The Order of the Sword is the highest honor that the enlisted corps can bestow. (Wright-Patterson release)
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…

