A group of 29 civic leaders recently spent four days traveling to sites in Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas to see firsthand border issues and airspace defense challenges facing NORAD and US Northern Command today. NORAD/NORTHCOM Spokesman Mike Perini said it was a tour designed to focus on “critical mission sets.” The group included many who hold public service and homeland security positions in various states.
The Air Force demonstrated that it can operate the remotely-piloted MQ-9 Reaper in long-range flights in the Pacific using limited ground support gear and non-specialist ground personnel. The demonstration provided a boost for its agile combat employment concept, the service said Dec. 7. The deployment required only seven people and…