In addition to sharing its concerns with the Pentagon directly, the National Governors Association has appealed to Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Armed Services Committee, to forestall the Pentagon proposal that the military be allowed to activate reserve forces during domestic disasters. In an Aug. 20 letter to the Senators (with a copy to their House counterparts), the NGA urged them to push the Pentagon to set up the Congressionally directed Council of Governors so it can engage directly with defense leaders over the expanded authority proposal. The association reminded the lawmakers that Congress stripped a similar Pentagon proposal from last year’s defense policy bill “because of governors’ concerns.” (More in The Hill report, Star-Bulletin report, and Rapid City Journal report)
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.
