Air Mobility Command has embarked on a competition to find a commercial service for aerial delivery functions across the command. By contracting out this service, AMC officials expect to be able to eliminate 93 enlisted positions at four facilities: Charleston AFB, S.C.; Dyess AFB, Tex.; McChord AFB, Wash.; and Pope AFB, N.C. The list of aerial delivery functions comprise building and rigging airdrop loads and aircraft loads; packing, repairing, and drying parachutes; scheduling and coordinating load operations; and performing airdrop inspections, aerial control, and drop-zone recovery. We are eager to learn just how many commercial firms provide “drop-zone recovery”
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
