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Senate has approved the nomination of Erin Conaton, Air Force undersecretary since March 2010, to be the new undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. The Senate confirmed her for the post on May 24, some four months after President Obama nominated her. There’s been no official word on whom the White House is eyeing to replace Conaton in the Air Force Secretariat—or whether a nomination would even come prior to November’s Presidential election. Along with Conaton, the Senate also confirmed on that same day the nominations of Frank Kendall to be the Defense Department’s acquisition czar and James Miller to be undersecretary of defense for policy. (See also Conaton, Kendall, Miller Nominations Move Forward.)
The Air Force is moving forward with a new, algorithm-driven system to help U.S. Northern Command better detect airborne threats. NORTHCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which are tasked with protecting the homeland from attack, depend on a slew of radars and other data systems to monitor U.S.…