The Air Force’s only forensic toxicology drug testing laboratory recently opened its doors at Lackland AFB, Tex., a part of Joint Base San Antonio. The new Headquarters Air Force Drug Testing Laboratory, a 22,000-square-foot building, is one of just six such labs in the Defense Department. Its mission is to deter illicit drug use in the service. Per BRAC 2005, the lab moved into the new facility at Lackland from Brooks City-Base, also in Texas. “The project is the closest thing I have ever experienced to building an airplane, in the air, with passengers on board, while flight attendants serve coffee,” said Lt. Col. Kabrena Rodda, the lab’s commander. The building came in $3.5 million under budget and went online on June 30, a month ahead of schedule. (Lackland report by Maj. Travis Herbelin)
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.