Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Romania’s Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi signed the bilateral agreement that will enable the United States to establish a ballistic missile defense interceptor site on Romanian soil by mid decade. This agreement “will position Romania as a central player in NATO’s evolving missile defense capability,” said Clinton at Tuesday’s press briefing with Baconschi following the signing ceremony in Washington, D.C. In early May, the two nations announced that they had chosen Deveselu Air Base near Caracal to host the 430-acre site, which will comprise a radar deckhouse, command element, and launch modules containing land-based Standard Missile-3 interceptors. The Romanian parliament must ratify the agreement before it enters into force. “We anticipate deploying the completed system as part of the second phase of European missile defense in approximately four years,” said Clinton. (Clinton-Baconschi transcript) (See also State Department fact sheet.)
The Air Force plans to have its new Integrated Capabilities Command stood up by the end of 2024, Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said May 2, offering new details of one of the signature reforms announced by the service earlier this year. Allvin said around 500-800 Airmen will…