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 Air Force has dispatched an element of its Natural Disaster Recovery Team to Guam in the wake of Super Typhoon Mawar, which has caused widespread damage on the island and at Andersen Air Force Base. The team will assess the damage and put together a recovery cost estimate for…