More than 400 airmen from the 335th Fighter Squadron, an F-15E unit, and the 4th Maintenance Group departed Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., last week on a four-month combat rotation to Bagram AB, Afghanistan. From Bagram, they will provide close air support for coalition grounds forces in Afghanistan, which is about the size of Texas. These airmen relieved a contingent of airmen from Seymour Johnson’s 336th FS. An aircrew from the 336th FS recently flew a mission that eclipsed 8,000 combat flight hours for the Air Force’s F-15E fleet. (Seymour Johnson report)
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.