Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein, commander of 20th Air Force, recently visited the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., to discuss upcoming training and quality of life changes intended to reinvigorate the ICBM mission. The grass roots Force Improvement Program, launched after widespread cheating was discovered at Malmstrom, made more than 350 recommendations to senior Air Force leaders, including formal training responsibilities for deputy missile combat crew commanders; the creation of a standardized question bank known as the Master Question File, which represents up to 500 things crewmembers must know; the implementation of a pass/fail system on monthly proficiency exams; and mimicking aircrew evaluation cycles. In addition, officials plan to unveil an advanced ICBM course that was developed at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., in June. Officials at Malmstrom also are developing an in-residence flight commander course and an MCC course “may soon follow,” states the May 7 release. The goal is to eventually teach the same courses throughout 20th Air Force. “I wanted to sit down with airmen in all disciplines to talk with them about what they thought about how we’re taking their inputs from the FIP and how we’re going to be implementing them pretty rapidly,” said Weinstein. “I’ve gotten really good feedback from it.”
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.