Residents of Baton Rouge, La., who have seen their parishes ravaged by historic floodwaters over the past week are receiving assistance from more than 100 airmen from the Louisiana Air National Guard. The Guardsmen are organizing security and providing transportation and other assistance at a shelter set up at the Celtic Media Centre, according to a US Northern Command release. Torrential rains that fell from Aug. 10-17 created flood conditions throughout the Baton Rouge area, killing 13 and damaging 40,000 homes, reported the Washington Post. Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency on Aug. 12.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
