According to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the Pentagon may make changes to the KC-X tanker competition, reports Reuters news service. Pentagon officials talked with Sessions and others Wednesday, and Sessions reported, “They said it’s not true their mind is made up.” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley had just days earlier reiterated the Pentagon stance that the draft request for proposals requirements were “very strong,” saying he doubted there would be major changes. And, that may be the difference in viewpoint. Reuters reported, too, that Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn acknowledged possible revisions to the RFP before USAF issues the final next month. The Northrop Grumman-EADS team, which would build its tanker in Alabama, has threatened to pull out if the RFP doesn’t change.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.