China's central Air Force Command sent two reconnaissance planes from Beijing to take aerial photographs of the area, state media said, adding that 2, 600 soldiers from the People's Armed Police had already arrived in six towns in the quake zone.

WSJ: Quake Kills More Than 100 in Sichuan

AeroVironment hopes to generate sales not just from services like the Army and Air Force, but also from the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Homeland Security (for help with border control) and weather services (for storm tracking and disaster recovery).

FORBES: Companies, People, Ideas

But documents that were declassified in the 1990s showed Mr. Powers's flight had been a joint Central Intelligence Agency-Air Force mission, making him eligible for military medals.

WSJ: Cold War U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers to Receive Silver Star

Rumsfeld was returning from a visit to Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, when he commented to reporters.

CNN: Taliban say Omar safe, deny strike hit leadership compound

In Tampa, Mrs Kelley has served as an unpaid "social liaison", helping to organise gatherings at MacDill Air Force Base, which is the home of US Central Command.

BBC: David Petraeus affair: Who's who

So the town of Rantoul, a success story in central Illinois, followed the opposite course: it has replaced its air-force base with 71 different tenants.

ECONOMIST: Shutting military bases

In Peru, the air force shot down airplanes suspected of carrying coca paste to Colombia in a controversial venture with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

WSJ: Cocaine: The New Front Lines