At word that the Air Force is trying to corral—instill some sanity, would be more descriptive—the large unmanned aerial vehicle market within DOD, the Army and friends in Alabama have taken offense. Alabama politicians fear loss of program funding and personnel at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal (per Brian Lawson of The Huntsville Times), and Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Mundt, director of aviation, believes USAF has overstepped into ground commander territory (per Jim Wolf of Reuters news service). Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff, sees problems if the Air Force doesn’t gain UAV executive agent status—and some lawmakers agree. They want to see an end to costly duplication.
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…