Gen. Philip Breedlove, US Air Forces in Europe’s new commander, said there will be no immediate changes in the command. His priorities for USAFE, which is headquartered at Ramstein AB, Germany, fall into three main categories: mission, airmen, and families. “I truly believe the airmen are our primary weapon system. Many nations in the world have great air forces. Many nations in our world may rival us as our Air Force gets smaller, but no nation in the world has the airmen that we have,” said Breedlove in an Aug. 13 USAFE release. In order to protect that valued resource, the Air Force must first take care of airmen’s families, he said. “The family was before the Air Force, the family was during the Air Force, and the family is after the Air Force,” he said. “Family is permanent and the Air Force is temporary.” Meet family needs and the mission takes care of itself, he said. The former vice chief of staff said his previous Pentagon duties would help him in his present role. (Ramstein report by 1st Lt. Christine Guthrie)
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.