The Senate on Jan. 20 confirmed retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. < Brig. Gen. Eric Crabtree took command of 4th Air Force from Maj. Gen. Robert Duignan during a Jan. 25 ceremony at March ARB, Calif., presided over by Air Force Reserve Command boss Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner Jr.; Duignan retired. < The US Forest Service is taking comments about an Air Force request to continue using part of the Lewis and Clark National Forest to train helicopter search and rescue crews out of Malmstrom AFB, Mont., reports the Great Falls Tribune. < Eglin Air Force Base in Florida has a piece of beachfront property that would be ideal for a 17-acre military resort that could provide the Air Force a “steady income stream,” reports the Northwest Florida Daily News; known as the Emerald Breeze Resort, the proposed facility would cater to military but be open to the public.
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.