Calling it both incredibly rewarding and occasionally frustrating, Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of NORAD and US Northern Command, told the audience at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., that a great deal of progress has been made in knocking down cultural and interagency walls to accomplish the command’s homeland defense efforts. Renuart compared his work at NORAD/NORTHCOM to the coalition building undertaken during the lead up to the Iraq War—only in his case, his 120 “nations” comprise states and partner government agencies. He said NORTHCOM’s efforts went relatively smoothly during the lead up to Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana last year, having “learned a lot of lessons” since Hurricane Katrina.
The top Air Force commander on on the Japanese island of Okinawa has clamped down alcohol and issued a curfew for junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians at Kadena Air Base for the next month. The order came roughly two weeks after a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and…