Montana Defense Alliance – 12/16/22

General Anthony ‘Tony’ Cotton Change of Command

General Anthony Cotton, who served at Malmstrom Air Force Base as Vice Commander from July 2009 to May 2010, then was promoted to Commander at MAFB from May 2010 to August 2011, assumed command of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) on December 9th.  Chair of the Montana Defense Alliance (MTDA), Steve Grooms, was able to attend the Change of Command ceremony, which is vitally important to continue the relationships that have been built when Gen. Cotton served at Malmstrom.  Prior to his new assignment, Gen. Cotton was the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana.   USSTRATCOM is the parent command to AFGSC, and Gen. Cotton will be responsible for coordinating command and control capability and providing timely information to the President, Secretary of Defense, and national leadership.

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passes the Senate

In reference to last week’s update on the NDAA, Click Here the Senate passed the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 yesterday, December 15th by a vote of 83-11.

For a brief summary, including a couple of quotes from Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Chamber Jack Reed (D-R.I.) who both praised putting politics aside and voting overwhelmingly in a true bipartisan effort to protect our county and allies. Click here

For a summary of the NDAA FY 2023 which now goes to the President to sign, click here.