Yesterday, the White House sent to Capitol Hill the nomination of Gen. Duncan McNabb to replace Gen. Norton Schwartz at the helm of US Transportation Command (see above). McNabb is the current Air Force vice chief of staff. We’re still waiting on the nomination of Lt. Gen. William Fraser to take over for McNabb as vice chief. Gates recommended Fraser, who serves now as assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for the new post on June 9. The President also announced the nomination of Lt. Gen. William Shelton to be the new chief of warfighting integration on the Air Force Secretariat as well as USAF’s chief, information officer. Shelton is currently commander of 14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic-Space).
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…
