CMSgt. J. C. Gideon, chief enlisted manager for the 23rd Equipment Maintenance Squadron at Moody AFB, Ga., has received the Bronze Star Medal for his meritorious service during a year-long deployment to Southwest Asia. During his time overseas from July 2009 to July 2010, Gideon was superintendent of Air Forces Central’s largest and most diverse maintenance squadron, the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron, at an undisclosed air base in the region. He developed numerous strategic plans to support combat air operations from the base. Col. Neal Robinson, 23rd Maintenance Group commander, presented Gideon with the Bronze Star during a ceremony at the Georgia base on Feb. 25. (Moody photo caption by SrA. Stephanie Mancha)
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.