Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz announced his 2012 reading list, which includes 13 books. “We airmen are innovators because we embrace the word ‘why’ and mine it for better, smarter ways to operate,” wrote Schwartz in a letter to airmen dated Jan. 6. This year’s list includes, for the first time, supplementary films, treatises, and Internet-based resources. The list of topics includes foreign policy, diversity, technology, the US Constitution, and reality-based fiction, according to the letter. Schwartz said he will highlight a few of the books each quarter of the year in an effort to “foster our steady professional development.” For the first three months, he recommends: Airpower for Strategic Effect by Colin Gray; Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand; and Start with Why by Simon Sinek. (SAF/PA release) (See also the 2011 list.)
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.