And for North Dakota, Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan said he has glommed $1 million in the 2006 defense spending bill to create a center of excellence at the University Of North Dakota to support the new unmanned aerial vehicle destined for Grand Forks AFB, N.D. Indeed, Air Force officials extolled the advantage accrued to Grand Forks from its proximity to UND’s School of Aerospace Science. Quoting Dorgan: “This program is another example of how we can strengthen our country while linking up our existing economic and research engines to create new opportunities for our state.” Dorgan is not done. There’s also money to come from the FAA for this UAV center of excellence. Of course, Nevada still has the Pentagon’s UAV center of excellence.
The Air National Guardsman who was arrested last year for sharing hundreds of top secret and classified documents to online chatrooms was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on Nov. 12 after pleading guilty to several charges this March.