New York Gov. David Paterson on Aug. 6 announced that members of the Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Wing at Stewart Air National Guard Base will form a new partnership with an active Air Force unit to provide air base security in deployed locations around the world. The wing’s 105th Security Forces Squadron will grow, adding some 200 Air Guardsmen from around the state and requiring construction to expand Stewart facilities. The squadron will provide about 10 30-person teams for 179-day overseas deployments, the first of which will begin in October 2010. They will first train with their active-duty counterparts at Moody AFB, Ga. Patterson said, “This partnership between the New York Air National Guard and the United States Air Force demonstrates the confidence the military has in our citizen airmen.”
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.