House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Tex.) is not participating in the President Bush roundup to lasso a greater role in natural disaster response for the Pentagon. He flatly told the Associated Press, “I don’t want the federal government to take over disaster response.” His reason: “Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy.
U.S. Africa Command will soon see if a small, autonomous aircraft can evacuate casualties from austere locations during a demonstration planned for December in Morocco. Merlin, an autonomous aviation firm, announced Nov. 11 it has received a $500,000 contract from AFRICOM for the demo mission.