House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) selected Eric Edelman and former GOP Senator Jim Talent of Missouri as his two picks to serve on the 10-member congressionally mandated national defense panel that will assess the Pentagon’s 2013 Quadrennial Defense Review. “Ambassador Edelman and Senator Talent are two of the most respected defense experts in the business,” said McKeon in a Jan. 29 release. Of the remaining eight panelists, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will appoint two, as will HASC Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), and SASC Ranking Member Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.). “My hope is that the remaining panelists will be seated soon so the group can begin examining the Department of Defense’s rationale and process for completing the Quadrennial Defense Review,” added McKeon. The panel is required to submit a report to Congress no later than three months after the Defense Department submits the QDR to Congress.
The six-week government shutdown did not affect the hours flown by Air Force pilots, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine—avoiding what could have been a major blow at a time when flying hours are already lower than they have been in decades.
