Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, on a visit to Arnold AFB, Tenn., one of three potential sites for USAF’s new Common Battlefield Airman Training center, said he expects the environmental impact surveys of all three sites to be completed in January or February, reports the Times-Gazette. The other two contenders are Barksdale AFB, La., and Moody AFB, Ga. Once the surveys are done, service officials will rank order the bases, including consideration of the cost at each location, before presenting a list to Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley. According to The Huntsville Times, the Tennessee contingent is getting some help from Alabama lawmakers. Apparently the Volunteer State got behind shifts of defense workers from the Washington, D.C., area to Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal—a move that also benefited workers in Tennessee—during BRAC 2005, so Alabama is reciprocating.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.