According to a combined statement from NORAD and US Northern Command, the now-widely reported claims that a new classified Government Accountability Office report on the movement of some elements from Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station in Colorado to nearby Peterson Air Force Base cites a lack of security are wrong. The Colorado Springs Gazette broke the story initially with the headline “Pentagon misled Congress about Peterson security, GAO report suggests,” to which NORAD/NORTHCOM declared: “The article in the Gazette is incomplete and inaccurate. … The sensationalized accusation that military officials somehow misled Congress is false.” The two commands added that the document obtained by the Gazette is preliminary and does not contain the GAO’s final analysis or recommendations and the responses from the commands. Subsequent reporting by the Gazette indicates the Colorado lawmakers Sen. Ken Salazar (D) and Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) are raising questions about the move. However, in 2006, after then-NORAD/NORTHCOM boss Adm. Timothy Keating explained his rationale for the move to Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), who also raised security concerns about the enterprise, Allard declared himself convinced both about the move and that Cheyenne Mountain would not be closed, as had been reported earlier. Current NORAD/NORTHCOM head, Air Force Gen. Victor Renuart, got to officiate at the opening of the new combined command center at Peterson earlier this year and commented that it would “be ahuge improvement” for the homeland and binational defense efforts. On this latest report, let’s just wait for Congressional reaction to the final product.
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.