Officials at JB McGuire, N.J., on June 11 inactivated the 816th Contingency Response Group. This unit was a component of McGuire’s 621st Contingency Response Wing. Like other CRGs, it was responsible for tasks such as opening expeditionary air bases. The move was part of a restructure that consolidates the wing’s contingency response capability in its two remaining CRGs–the 817th CRG and 818th CRG. The restructure also transfers some of this mission to the New Jersey Air National Guard’s 108th Air Refueling Wing at McGuire, thereby creating an Air Guard contingency response group. “In its short but distinguished history, the 816th CRG performed the mission of units many times its size, under difficult conditions, in remote locations, and often with little to no notice,” said Lt. Col. Vikki Ellison, 816 Global Mobility Squadron commander. (JB McGuire report by TSgt. Parker Gyokeres)
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.