SSgt. Jesse Childress, 29, an Air Force Reservist assigned to the 310th Forces Support Squadron at Buckley AFB, Colo., died in the mass shooting on July 20 in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., near Denver, announced Air Force officials on July 22. Childress, from Thornton, Colo., was a cyber systems operator on active duty orders. He was among the 12 fatalities and scores of wounded in the incident. Another Reservist was wounded in the shooting attack, according to the officials. This airman, also on active duty orders at Buckley, left a hospital on July 21 after treatment, they said. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class John Larimer, 27, of Crystal Lake, Ill., also died in the shooting, announced the Navy. Another sailor was injured. Alleged gunman James Holmes is in police custody.
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.