Adm. Tim J. Keating, commander of US Northern Command, gathered his disaster response senior “crew” at Peterson to “roll up [their] sleeves and ask questions” to prepare for the 2006 storm season. The group included nine adjutants general, who head their individual state National Guard forces, as well as NORTHCOM senior staff. Based on TAG comments, they liked the collaborative effort. “Cooperation and coordination is key to any response effort,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. Doug Burnett, Florida’s adjutant general. “We should not be exchanging business cards in the foxhole.”
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…