If what we heard late Thursday is accurate, the Senate Armed Services Committee has blessed Gen. Norton Schwartz to be Air Force Chief of Staff and Gen. Duncan McNabb to replace him at US Transportation Command. Early on Thursday, ABC News had reported that Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), committee chairman, planned to “postpone action” on the Schwartz nomination because of lingering questions over his Congressional testimony from 2003. Now, we hear, Schwartz and McNabb are cleared for full Senate confirmation, but that the nomination of Michael Donley to be Air Force Secretary is still on hold. Stay tuned.
A combined Navy and Air Force program is seeking to build a smaller version of a ubiquitous air-to-air missile that could give advanced aircraft, such as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, greater magazine depth in a high-end fight.