Brig. Gen. Mark Kyle has taken command of 4th Air Force at March ARB, Calif., a component of Air Force Reserve Command that oversees mostly long-range airlift and tankers stationed at bases across the continental United States. Kyle received the command guidon from Air Force Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner during a ceremony at March last week. Kyle succeeds Maj. Gen Eric Crabtree, who led the numbered air force since January 2009. Crabtree moves to his new assignment as deputy director of US Strategic Command’s Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction at Ft. Belvoir, Va. Kyle previously served as Air Forces Central’s director of mobility forces in Southwest Asia. (March report by 2nd Lt. Zach Anderson)
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.