TSgt. Kristoffer M. Solesbee, 32, of Citrus Heights, Calif., and SSgt. Joseph J. Hamski, 28, of Ottumwa, Iowa, died in operations in Afghanistan, announced Defense Department officials. The two airmen were killed on May 26 in the Shorabak district of Kandahar province of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. Both airmen were EOD technicians. Solesbee was assigned to the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron at Hill AFB, Utah. Hamski was a member of the 52nd CES at Spangdahlem AB, Germany. (See also KTXL report from Sacramento, Calif., and WHO report from Des Moines, Iowa.)
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.