Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R- La.), and Gov. Bob Riley (R-Ala.) on Monday announced the launch of The Aerospace Alliance, a private-public partnership of business leaders, economic development professionals, and government officials to establish the Gulf Coast and surrounding region as a world-class aerospace, space, and aviation corridor. They said in a joint release their first objective is to ensure that the Air Force’s new KC-X tanker is built in their region. If Northrop Grumman should prevail in the newly relaunched KC-X tanker contest against Boeing, it would assemble its aircraft in Mobile, Ala., a boon for that state and the region. In a separate release, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) and Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) announced that Northwest Florida was also a member of this new alliance. (See also Tuesday’s Alliance release.)
When Donald Trump begins his second term as president in January, national security law experts anticipate he may return to his old habit of issuing orders to the military via social media, a practice which could cause confusion in the ranks.