Orlando, February 19, 2010—In just the first five months of Fiscal 2010, the Air Force has already met 68 percent of its total recruiting goal for the year, Gen Stephen Lorenz, Air Education and Training Command boss, said Friday at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium. That’s more than 21,000 new recruits toward the 32,000-person goal, he said. Equally impressive are the types of young men and women deciding upon Air Force service, said Lorenz. In fact, 91 percent of this year’s recruits rank in the top three categories that the Pentagon uses to gauge a recruit’s quality. That’s the highest percentage in Air Force recruiting history, he said. And given that only 25 percent of young Americans between ages 17 and 26 are even eligible—the others are ineligible due to factors like criminal records and medical issues—that’s not a trivial fact, he noted.
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…
