The Air Force needs to do a better job of promoting itself, said the Air National Guard’s Command CMSgt. Chris Muncy. “The vast majority of the public doesn’t focus on the war front,” said Muncy during a command chiefs forum at AFA’s Air & Space Conference Monday. Less than one percent of the public serve in the military, so it makes sense that it would be more concerned about rising gas prices and the unemployment rate. However, “that affects our airmen,” he said. It’s the Air Force’s job to educate employers about what airmen do. “It stresses our folks out, so we need to tell our Air Force story. The American public needs to know we are there, because they don’t know it now,” said Muncy.
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.