California Air National Guard medical officer, Lt. Col. Susan Pangelinan, is a “role model” for her endeavors in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines, according to officials who presented her with a DOD STEM Role Model Award last week during a Women in Military Service for America Memorial event in Arlington, Va. Pangelinan served in the 1991 Operation Desert Storm and helped manage medical resources at the Pentagon following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, serving on active duty and in the Air Force Reserve before joining the Air Guard in 2002. During last year’s California wildfires, she worked with a multi-state, multi-agency disaster response force. She said at the award event, “It’s not so much what you know, but it’s more your ability to apply what you know in such situations.” (National Guard Bureau report by Air Force MSgt. Mike Smith)
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.