Pull Up, Pull Up: Congress must act to prevent the sequestration demanded by the 2011 Budget Control Act, Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley said Monday. In his keynote address to AFA’s Air & Space Conference, Donley said sequestration will inflict an “arbitrary” cut of $55 billion on defense which will have destructive consequences for people as well as programs, hitting hard at the civilian workforce and “our investment portfolio.” The sequestration is avoidable, Donley said; it is “under our control” as a nation to prevent it. Allowing the sequestration to happen is “not a responsible way to achieve deficit reduction,” Donley said. “We need Congress to de-trigger” the sequester, he asserted.
The nation needs a better-coordinated policy for dealing with unmanned aerial systems that threaten domestic bases, Air Force vice chief of staff Gen. James C. Slife told a panel of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He and Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante co-chair a panel looking at counter-UAS…