In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Boeing HH-47 program manager Rick Lemaster asserted that to recompete the combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program would be unfair to Boeing because Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky now were privy to Boeing cost data. That information would make the two losing companies more competitive and put Boeing in a “less competitive posture” the second time around, said Lemaster. “If there were errors, those need to be corrected, but a wholesale recompetition would not be appropriate,” Lemaster added. The Air Force has stated that it doesn’t necessarily believe it must hold a new competition to satisfy the faults cited in the Government Accountability Office protest decision. However, some lawmakers have a different view.
Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—a trailblazer and one of the first 10 women to reach a four-star rank across the U.S. military—retired and passed control of U.S. Transportation Command to Air Force Gen. Randall Reed on Oct. 4, finishing an eventful tenure at TRANSCOM.