All the military services and their reserve components still are taking in more than enough recruits and retaining sufficient current personnel to keep up with demands, according to the latest recruiting and retention data released by the Pentagon. Only the Army National Guard was slightly off, bringing in about 97 percent of its goal for the month of December, but, according to the Pentagon, it is on track to meet its year-end recruiting goal. Last month, Pentagon officials noted that the Air National Guard had to reduce its previously planned intake, but in December the Air Guard was well over its goal of 450, recruiting 692 enlistees.
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.