Retired Gen. John W. Pauly, former commander in chief of US Air Forces in Europe, died on Aug. 7 in Colorado Springs, Colo., announced the Air Force on Thursday. He was 90. Pauly led USAFE from August 1978 to August 1980, retiring from the service after that assignment. Born in Albany, N.Y., in 1923, Pauly entered West Point in 1942, receiving his commission and pilot wings three years later, according to his official Air Force biography. During the Korean War, Pauly flew 55 combat missions in the B-26 bomber, amassing 230 combat flying hours. He accumulated more than 6,000 flying hours during his Air Force career. Several years after leaving the Air Force, Pauly became chief executive officer of Systems Control Technology in Palo Alto, Calif., according to his obituary in the Colorado Springs Gazette.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
