Officials 
at Osan AB, South Korea, last week held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the base’s new, 82,000 square-foot passenger air terminal. Flights are set to begin from there Monday. It will serve as the new transit hub for service members making permanent change of station to and from the Korean peninsula. Such “Patriot Express” flights resumed in April at Osan after a five-year pause. “This world-class facility will be one that our families and military members will walk through with pride,” said Lt. Gen. Robert Allardice, 18th Air Force commander, at the Sept. 27 ceremony. The facility is nearly five times larger than its predecessor, offering a lounge, reception, and service center, along with shuttle service to the Army garrison at Yongsan. USAF and Army construction units and Korean contractors completed the project in 33 months. (Osan report by SSgt. Eric Burks)
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.