The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star Medal to TSgt. Benjamin Aylward, with the 341st Logistics Readiness Squadron at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., for his actions while deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Aylward served as a convoy commander, completing more than 12 convoys during which he led 13 airmen and 12 soldiers who provided security for some 400 foreign nationals operating commercially contracted transports loaded with mission-critical cargo. (Malmstrom report by MSgt. Terry Nelson)
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.