Airmen at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, are busily preparing to shift operations to the Air Force Network, the service’s new centrally administered computer network, becoming the first US Air Forces in Europe installation to make the jump, announced base officials on July 10. Once preparations are complete, members of Spangdahlem’s 52nd Communications Squadron will begin transferring workstations and e-mail to AFNet starting on August 13, they said. During the migration, some Spangdahlem users may experience network or e-mail access interruptions, but for the majority, user impact will be minimal, they said. Several overseas bases in the Pacific already began migrating to AFNet earlier this year. The Air Force intends to complete the service-wide transition to the new network in 2013. (Spangdahlem report by TSgt. Christopher Conway)
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.