The Air Force Reserve Command detachment at Moody AFB, Ga., that began in June 2007 to chart the course for the new Reserve A-10 operations at the Georgia facility is working toward activation of the 476th Fighter Group. Under USAF’s Total Force plan, the Reserve Group will associate with the active A-10 units at Moody, primarily providing instruction for the active force. The 476th FG, which will be aligned under AFRC’s 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., will comprise one fighter squadron, one maintenance squadron, and an aerospace medicine flight with a total of some 230 airmen. The group’s first three pilots have been learning how to operate the upgraded Hog, the A-10C, but Lt. Col. Mickey Moore, the detachment’s director of operations, said the focus really has been on building up the unit’s cadre of maintainers. “I’d rather see them get healthy with maintenance and have them turn a lot of airplanes; then, we can start bringing in more pilots,” said Moore. (442nd FW report by MSgt. Bill Huntington)
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.