The Noncommissioned Officers Academy at Robins AFB, Ga., will officially close its doors May 20, according to a May 8 release from the base. The Robins facility is the second of at least four NCO academies that the Air Force is shutting down to trim costs and in recognition of declining end strength. USAF closed down the NCO Academy at McGuire AFB, N.J., in May 2007. The academy at Goodfellow AFB, Tex., is scheduled to close May 28, and the one at Kirtland AFB, N.M., is set to close next year. The NCO Academy at Keesler AFB, Miss., has been proposed for closure, but not yet approved, a Robins official said in a second release from May 8. Stateside NCO academies remaining open are at: Lackland AFB, Tex., Maxwell AFB, Ala., McGhee-Tyson ANGB in Alcoa, Tenn., Peterson AFB, Colo., and Tyndall AFB, Fla. There are also four academies that will remain in operation outside of the contiguous 48 states: Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, Hickam AFB, Hawaii, Kadena AB, Japan, and Kapaun AS, Germany.
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.