Air Education and Training Command boss Gen. Edward Rice is expected to release a report within the next month outlining changes that the command will implement at Basic Military Training at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., according to AETC spokesman Nathan Simmons. These changes are resulting from a sexual abuse scandal within the BMT ranks. The report will specifically focus on the recommendations made by Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward in her investigation—conducted at Rice’s request—of sexual misconduct at BMT, Simmons told the Daily Report on Nov. 7. Among the changes, the Air Force is considering prohibiting anyone below the rank of technical sergeant from serving as a military training instructor, although some exceptions could be made for exceptional staff sergeants, reported the San Antonio Express-News on Nov. 6. It cited a posting at an MTI message board. Simmons said it’s too early to know if the command would institute such a provision, but it would be “part of a larger effort to make positive changes at BMT,” if adopted. Of the 497 MTIs currently working at Lackland, 202 are staff sergeants and eight are senior airmen, he noted. (See also Sexual Misconduct at BMT from Air Force Magazine’s November issue.)
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.