Katrina Changes AETC Privatization Plans: The impact of Hurricane Katrina has led Air Education and Training Command officials to extend the family housing privatization timeline as they look for ways to offset a nearly 20 percent rise in regional construction costs. The search for ways to resolve “financial gaps” led to an eight-month delay for some bases. AETC also decided to remove Keesler AFB, Miss., the USAF base hit hardest by Katrina, from privatization plans altogether. Instead, they plan to replace all Keesler family housing using traditional military construction means.
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…