There are 329,638 airmen on active duty and 138,801 full-time USAF civilian employees, according to the Air Force Personnel Center’s newly published demographics data, current as of Sept. 30. In the active duty ranks are 66,201 officers, with an average age of 35, and 263,437 enlisted personnel, with an average age of 29. Women are 19.2 percent of the force. There are 14,083 active duty pilots, 4,074 navigators, 1,426 air battle managers, and 30,075 non-rated line officers. Slightly more than 20 percent of the force is currently assigned overseas (including Alaska and Hawaii) and 59.2 percent of airmen are married. The officers have served on average 11 years, compared to 8 years for enlisted airmen. The average age of an Air Force civilian is 47.1 years. Almost one-third, or 31.6 percent, of USAF civilians are female. (Randolph report by SSgt. Steve Grever)
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.