Air Force Reserve Command’s B-52 bomber operations at Barksdale AFB, La., are now managed by the newly activated 307th Bomb Wing. The unit replaces the just-inactivated 917th Wing as the overseer of the Reservists’ activities, which include running USAF’s sole B-52 schoolhouse and cooperating in the maintenance and operations of Barksdale’s combat-ready, nuclear-capable B-52s that are assigned to the active duty 2nd BW. As part of the changes, the 307th BW will no longer manage AFRC’s A-10s at Barksdale as the 917th Wing did. Instead, the 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., now oversees them. Reserve officials at Barksdale have said this reorganization will allow them to place more focus on the bomber mission. Service officials hosted a ceremony on Jan. 8 featuring Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, Air Force Reserve chief, to mark these changes, reported the Shreveport Times.
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.