Airmen 
at Dover AFB, Del., and JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., were busy on Oct. 30 cleaning up debris and fallen trees and dealing with property damage, minor flooding, and power outages after Superstorm Sandy hit both installations on the previous day. Dover officials expected the base to return to normal operations on Oct. 31, while McGuire leadership anticipated that “most operations” would resume by then. “We’re just thankful our folks weathered the storm without serious injury and that we continue to support recovery operations in the local area by hosting the FEMA team here,” said Col. John Wood, McGuire commander, in a base release. Officials at both installations credited diligent preparation with preventing more serious damage and disruptions. For example, already on the morning of Oct 30, Dover’s airmen had reopened the base’s airfield, according to a Dover release. “One of the main things we learned is not to worry about exactly where the storm is going to hit,” said SMSgt. John Tingle, 436th Civil Engineer Squadron operations flight superintendent at Dover. “We need to prepare for the worst case scenario possible . . . and recover the base through any challenge.” (Dover report by TSgt. Jeremy Larlee) (McGuire report by 2nd Lt. Alexis McGee)
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.