Starting July 1, Gen. Stephen Lorenz, head of Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB, Tex., will begin using the social networking site Twitter to communicate to internal and external audiences. Lorenz said June 25 using Twitter as an outreach tool goes hand-in-hand with AETC’s philosophy of applying innovation and leveraging technology to move the Air Force into the future. “It is critical for our command to have a voice and conduct discourse where millions of people are connected,” said Lorenz. He continued, “This is especially true for a commander who wants to interact with younger ‘digital native’ airmen and Americans.” Lorenz’s Twitter user name is “AETCBoss.” He intends to tweet (i.e., post entries) on command updates, his activities as commander, and insights about what is on his mind. Lorenz will be retiring later this year. (Randolph report by Mike Briggs) (Lorenz’s Twitter page)
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.