President Obama has tapped Lt. Gen. Paul Selva to be vice commander of Pacific Air Forces at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. Selva has been assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since October 2008. He’ll replace Maj. Gen. Brooks Bash, who’s been PACAF’s No. 2 officer since September 2010. The Senate has confirmed Bash for a third star for his new assignment as logistics director on the Joint Staff. In another change, Obama has nominated Maj. Gen. Stanley Clarke to receive a third star for his new assignment as commander of the Continental US NORAD Region and commander of 1st Air Force (Air Forces Northern) at Tyndall AFB, Fla. Clarke currently serves as the senior defense official at US European Command’s Office of Defense Cooperation Turkey in Ankara. He’ll replace Maj. Gen. Garry Dean, who’s been at Tyndall since November 2009. (DOD release)
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.