Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University earlier this month bestowed an honorary degree to Maj. Brad Funk, an instructor pilot at Sheppard AFB, Tex., who was killed May 1 in a T-38 crash on the base. The Times Record News of Wichita Falls, Tex., reported June 7 that Funk received a posthumous master of aeronautical science degree with honors during the 2008 commencement ceremony at the university’s Sheppard campus on June 6. Funk, 35, was working on his master’s degree at Emory-Riddle the time of his death. The T-38 crash also took the life of 2nd Lt. Alec Littler, a student pilot.
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.