Instructors from the Air Force Air Advisor Academy at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., last month traveled to Yokota AB, Japan, to train mobility airmen from Yokota’s 36th Airlift Wing to be more effective as advisors to partner nation air forces in the region. This represented the first time that the academy sent a training team to the Pacific since it began operations last year, according to Yokota’s Jan. 28 release. The five-day air advisor course “taught us essential skills for building partnerships and knowledge of cultural norms and how to effectively communicate with individuals from other cultures,” said Capt. Olin Johnson, a pilot with the wing, which operates C-130s. “Each class was useful and tailored to the specific needs of Yokota’s role” in US Pacific Command, he added. The lessons covered topics like mission planning, execution, and after-action analysis; behavior in host countries; using embassy resources; and understanding culture, states the release. The course concluded on Jan. 18. (Yokota report by SrA. Cody H. Ramirez)
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.