Officials at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., recently celebrated the opening of the newly renovated dining facility on base, according to a release. The Raider Café is the remodeled version of the base’s old dining facility, the Bandit Inn. The former features state-of-the-art cooking equipment and a new menu—with items like bison burgers, paninis, and Mongolian barbeque, among the improvements, states Ellsworth’s release. “This is indeed a special day in the history of Ellsworth,” said Col. Thomas Goulter, 28th Mission Support Group commander, during the grand opening ceremony in June. “Today symbolizes the opening of our newly renovated base restaurant. With the help of our partners and contractors in the local area, we are able to provide airmen a unique dining experience,” he said in the July 8 release. “The food tastes great. I look forward to coming back for more,” said A1C Tess Bogner of her first Raider Café dining experience. (Ellsworth report by A1C Hrair H. Palyan) (For more on the Air Force’s food service enterprise, read Feeding the Force from Air Force Magazine’s July issue.)
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.