This year’s Vigilant Shield is planned for Oct. 15-20, according to a release from US Northern Command. Like the 2007 version, it will take place in various states in cooperation with Homeland Security. It will also involve several partner nations, including Australia, Canada, and Britain, and will include Guam. The exercises are intended to test response abilities against a variety of potential threats.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall doesn’t see great value in trying to break the Sentinel ICBM program off as a separate budget item the way the Navy has with its ballistic-missile submarine program, saying such a move wouldn’t create any new money for the Air Force to spend on other…