Officials at JB Elmendorf, Alaska, have identified the four airmen who died in the base’s C-17 crash. They are Maj. Michael Freyholtz, 34, pilot with the Alaska Air National Guard’s 249th Airlift Squadron; Maj. Aaron Malone, 36, 249th AS pilot; Capt. Jeffrey Hill, 31, instructor pilot with the active duty 517th AS; and MSgt. Thomas Cicardo, 47, 249th AS loadmaster. (See Friday’s Daily Report coverage.) Freyholtz, from Hines, Minn., joined the Alaska ANG in 2007 after nine years in the active duty. He had more than 3,500 flight hours. Malone was a 12-year Air Guard pilot from Anchorage, Alaska, with more than 2,100 flying hours. Hill, from York, Pa., earned his commission in 2002 and was the lone active duty airman to perish. Cicardo, of Anchorage, had more than 5,400 flying hours during his 28 years of military service. This July 28 crash was USAF’s first fatal C-17 flight mishap. (For more on each airman, visit this Web page.) (See also Elmendorf report by John Pennell)
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.