Air Force aeromedical personnel compared disaster-relief and evacuation notes with their New Zealand counterparts as part of Kiwi Flag, a tactical air mobility exercise at Whenuapai Air Base, near Auckland, said Pacific Air Forces officials May 8. “To our knowledge there has not been an exchange of this nature in the past between our two countries,” said MSgt. Enrique Ferrera, 13th Air Force medical specialist from JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, in discussing this interaction during the exercise, which concluded in April. “It was absolutely one of the best engagements I have been part of to date and I view this as a stepping stone to further medical endeavors between our nations,” he added. For Kiwi Flag, USAF airmen, US marines, and New Zealand personnel also conducted airdrop and jump training alongside troops from Australia, France, and Singapore. (Whenuapai report by Capt. Rebecca Hayse)
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.