The Missile Defense Agency has declared full operational capability for its Combined Test Force, now located at Huntsville, Ala. The agency has been moving personnel from scattered test elements to Huntsville because it “recognized a need for an integrated approach to testing and analysis of the entire [ballistic missile defense system] not just separate elements,” states an MDA news release. The CTF consolidation and move predates the relocation of the rest of MDA, principally from the Washington, D.C. area, to Huntsville, per BRAC 2005.
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…