The governors have had their National Guard concerns mollified by their conversations with President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, JCS Chairman—at least for now. Bush told them his Administration planned to maintain the strength of the Guard, despite presenting a 2007 budget that funds some 20,000 fewer personnel than authorized. The two Pentagon leaders echoed the President’s comments. What the governors were told: If the Guard recruits to the authorized number, the Administration will fund the full 350,000.
Unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous aircraft may provide a solution to operating in heavily contested domains such as the Taiwan Straits, according to a panel of expert who suggested operationalizing artificial intelligence for such purposes sooner rather than later. The group gathered virtually to help launch the Mitchell Institute for…