Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday swore in David Petraeus as CIA director in a ceremony at the White House. Petraeus, who last week retired from the Army as commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, is the intelligence agency’s 20th director. He replaces Leon Panetta, who left the CIA to become Defense Secretary in July. “I wanted to join this agency for many of the same reasons that I joined the US Army 37 years ago—for the opportunity to serve with extraordinary people, to continue to contribute to critical missions, and to be able to further serve our great country,” stated Petraeus in a message sent to all CIA employees after his swearing-in. “I eagerly look forward to starting our work together, and to bringing our agency’s unique strengths to bear on the many foreign threats and opportunities our country faces.” (CIA 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.