Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said last week it’s “very likely” that combat forces will be among those units that he allows to return home starting this summer. Speaking at a National Journal/Newseum event in Washington, D.C., Petraeus said he is still drawing up options on which troops may withdraw from Afghanistan once the planned drawdown of forces beings in July. The plan probably will call for most of those going home to come from support functions, he noted. A “small group” at ISAF headquarters is developing the plan, he said during the March 18 event.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
