Retired Maj. Gen. Charles Metcalf is stepping down as director of the National Museum of the US Air Force, effective Dec. 31, museum officials announced. There is no word yet on his successor. Metcalf has led the museum since 1996. During his tenure, the museum’s annual attendance has grown from 800,000 to nearly 1.4 million visitors and the museum achieved American Association of Museums accreditation, the highest national recognition for a museum. Metcalf is also credited with expanding the museum’s facilities, including a 200,000-square-foot Cold War Gallery and a 60,000-square-foot Missile Gallery. He also supported a major capital construction program to enlarge the museum’s current one million square feet of exhibit space with a new 200,000-square-foot building that features a Space Gallery, Presidential Aircraft Interpretive Center, and Global Reach Gallery.
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.