The 60-Years-Late Unit Streamer: Sixty years after the Berlin Airlift, the Air Force has recognized the units involved in the historic operation with a new streamer for their unit guidons. Receiving the first streamer—a symbolic one—was retired Col. Gail Halvorsen (the Berlin Airlift’s “Candy Bomber”). The reason for the long delay, says the Air Force, is that the airlift technically was not classed as a campaign. Nonetheless, USAF officials and others consider the Berlin Airlift the first major operation of the newly independent Air Force. Read our article on the airlift here.
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.